The Crystal Odyssey
by 1Thunderfire
Summary: When Ripple Star is invaded by Zero-Two, Kirby and the GSA must help Ribbon restore the broken Great Crystal and free the planet from its corruption. On the way, Kirby must also face the dark forces seeking vengeance against him as well as finding his position in the world. Can Kirby find the strength to save the world once again? And can he find this thing known as... love?
1. An Unexpected Visitor

**Hello fellow readers! It's... been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that. ^^; Don't worry, I'm not dead and I haven't given up writing but it's been very difficult writing anything due to my current living conditions, as in, I've pretty much no privacy to write (I will always be disturbed/distracted by someone)and writing in my bedroom is less than adequate as it involves me writing on a pad on the floor. And I'll be honest, working with computers all day leaves me with little desire to do more computer-related stuff afterwards so it's just as well I actually have a few chapters wrote down on actual paper. I've found it helps with the post-editing process as well. :) But one day, it would be nice to have a place of my own and have the peace and space to write.**

 **So yes, some of you may already be aware of this story and that's been quite some time in the making. I've no idea of how long it will be or when it will be finished but I hope to provide some entertainment and quality story-telling in the meantime. So without further adieu, thank you for your continued patience and support. Enjoy the story. :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: An Unexpected Visitor**

Greetings, my friends. Do you know of the Gamble Galaxy? Surely you must. It is one emblazoned with star-streaked vistas and shimmering nebulae painted upon a canvas of midnight darkness. The fiery exhalation of numerous comets rush across the vastness of space, leaving behind traces of crimson flame and sparkling ice. A panorama of glowing, multi-coloured stars and moons await your sight. The vivid rings of the distant planets pulse with soft energy; a velvet, gentle sensation that is yet untouchable. You breathe. The light is golden. You sense peace.

The planets are as veritable beacons in the infinite frontier. One is an environment where the rocks were once shattered by a great cataclysm and are now held together by gravity's whim; a constantly shifting collection of geological masses between which the hot sands blow endlessly. Another is a location where volcanoes erupt with molten lava amidst the untouched rainforests, the pure, gushing rivers and the towering mountains – a most pristine landscape. And then another planet – a personal favourite – is shaped like a symbolic five-pointed star, bathed with a golden atmosphere, and surrounded by its vibrant, circling rings, the brightest planet in the Gamble Galaxy. It is my home.

I direct your attention now to a particular planet known as Ripple Star. By some accident of creation, it is shaped like a heart and pulses like one too. Many intergalactic travellers will make their way here believing that it is a source of love or will provide a cure to their heartbreak problems; an apothecary for romance if you will.

Ripple Star is also noted for the fabled artefact that resides in one the central kingdoms: the Great Crystal that is said to purge darkness and restore purity. Such is the power that when used, it can cleanse an entire planet of corruption.

So why then had Ripple Star been engulfed by a corrupting darkness, infected, twisted and blackened by the forces of Dark Matter and their leader? Why was the planet seen to be heading towards destruction, towards death, its very heart even to be shattered and darkened beyond hope?

This is a story about the Crystal Shards. This is a story about a child of the stars and his journey from one planet to another, carrying an unbearable weight on his back, the hopes of countless people and the trials and tribulations that he was destined to face amongst the many others he had already fought against in his young life.

Let us begin…

* * *

A terrible storm was brewing.

Ribbon looked outside with great concern. Such a storm was not normal, she decided. The sky rumbled and slowly turned black with slow lightning occasionally streaking past. She hesitated for a while and then stepped outside. Maybe it would pass by. Maybe it was nothing more than a natural if volatile storm to come.

 _The planet knows something awful is about to happen to it,_ the queen had said in an unguarded moment. Ribbon did not fully understand; she was only relatively new to her current position within the queen's retinue as a Crystal Guardian. How could a planet detect such things? And in any case, they had the Great Crystal didn't they? Surely the Great Crystal would protect them if things went drastically wrong? That was its purpose was it not?

Nobody else appeared especially concerned about the unusual weather. Indeed, the sky was clear in certain parts so people were already out on the streets going about their daily business. Ribbon yawned. It was supposed to be her day off and yet here she was out in the capital worrying about the weather having been unable to drop back off to sleep again when she woke up early. She ended up buying a hot snack from a street vendor and chewed in a rather lethargic manner. Perhaps it would be best to walk about for a while and if she got caught in the rain, so what? The water was clean and it would possibly do her some good.

She sat down by the fountain and let the trickling water soothe her, ignoring the people who walked on by. She vaguely wondered, not for the first time, what the other planets within the Gamble Galaxy were like as she was currently learning about them. Were they as beautiful as this one? What were its people like? Did they have anything like Ripple Star's Great Crystal? If only there was the time and ability to visit them. If only there weren't the duties.

As Ribbon stood up, a nearby statue exploded.

In an instant, the sky was engulfed by darkness far deeper than surely deemed possible. The atmosphere grew tremendously heavy and almost sickening besides. A miasma of evil began spreading throughout the city and its citizens choked on the black air. An unseen force caused their hearts to beat wildly, their minds now being violently attacked. The darkness started inching its corrupting influence amongst the people without resistance. It snuffed out light as a candle before a breeze.

Those not in the immediate vicinity of the infestation screamed and panicked while the sky became terribly black, obscuring the sun. Destruction rained down; streets cracked as if broken by an earthquake, buildings collapsed and black energy, black fire spewed out of nowhere. And above all, when the light of the sky completely vanished, that was when the innumerable eyes appeared.

Ribbon had already fled her spot. She made her way to the castle before those demonic eyes materialised. There was no-one else around. Soon she had arrived in the vault where the Great Crystal resided gasping for breath. She then noticed the queen by the Great Crystal's pedestal panicking almost as much as the citizens. Distressingly, there was no sign of any other Crystal Guardians.

"Oh, you're here, Ribbon, thank goodness!" the queen cried over the sound of the castle's foundation's quaking. "You must take the Great Crystal and flee!"

"B-but surely it's needed here!" Ribbon protested.

"We can't activate it in such circumstances; the enemy will seek to destroy it. You must take it to another planet and seek help from there. Quickly!"

Startled, Ribbon touched the Great Crystal but did not yet flee. "I've barely even begun my training."

"You're the only one available, my child. You will have to do."

What could Ribbon say to that? Had the others already been taken? Where were they? "I don't have a starship," she replied instead.

"The Great Crystal will take you and protect you if you let it do so. Let it guide you; it will find someone to help you. Now please go or we'll all be destroyed!"

Heart pounding, Ribbon held onto the Great Crystal with the intention of removing it from its pedestal. However, a portal unexpectedly opened above her and without warning, the Great Crystal burst skyward, taking Ribbon with it before she even knew what was happening, before she even had the chance to say goodbye.

Soon enough, they vanished from view as the Great Crystal shot through the dark cloud to seek a safe haven somewhere, anywhere.

"Be safe, my dear," the queen whispered softly.

She then turned to see the darkness seeping in through the cracks and from a single, unblinking eye.

No-one heard her scream.

* * *

Protected by the mysterious energies of the Great Crystal, Ribbon was now outside Ripple Star's atmosphere and raced through the vastness of space at an unimaginable speed. Had she not been fleeing for her own life, she would have observed the cosmos in silence and awe.

She had not travelled far from the planet when three essences of the dark, polluting cloud suffocating Ripple Star broke off and began to hunt Ribbon down at a speed that was surely impossible for living creatures.

"No!" Ribbon screamed. She clutched her only safety tightly. They must have come to destroy the Great Crystal. And if the Great Crystal was destroyed, then she would be destroyed. All of Ripple Star would be destroyed.

The mouthless, ocular creatures smacked themselves into the Great Crystal's side with Ribbon clinging on for dear life.

"Faster, faster!" she urged the Great Crystal. The Great Crystal seemed to shimmer light blue in response but it was already travelling as fast as it could. She did not notice how space appeared to warp around the Great Crystal akin to a celestial passageway, adding to its fantastic speed, allowing them cross countless miles in a blink of an eye, nor regrettably did she see how her assailants were using that exact same stellar tunnel to keep to the chase.

The abominations battered the Great Crystal more heavily and to Ribbon's absolute terror, awful cracks were now visible upon its surface.

"Hold on!" she cried to the Great Crystal. It couldn't break here… not here… her people… they would…

The dark beings struck the Great Crystal once more and this time, the Great Crystal shattered wholly and in the midst of the blinding light of the explosion, Crystal Shards were flung in all directions.

The beings broke away; dazzled by the light they were so opposed to but with the sense that they had at least accomplished their task for now. Blinded however by that terrible supernova, they stole away in the middle of the chaos and vanished from sight.

Near a planet that shimmered like a star, Ribbon – clutching a single shard – drifted silently through space. The shard glowed; a small protective bubble lit up, and it pointed to the only sanctuary in reach.

* * *

Kirby was about to kill someone.

"Ahh! Get away from me, Kirby!"

"You've had your chance and you lost it."

"That ain't fair, I—"

"Life isn't fair, Joe."

"No, I will fight my way out of this; you can't stop me!"

"Believe me, I will stop you."

Their weapons brutally clashed against one another, steel ringing loud and clear, their bloody wounds visible for all to see, a vicious fight that was now staged before the setting crimson sun. One was now tiring quickly in the last stage of the brutal conflict and the battle would be brought to a sharp end.

Kirby kicked Knuckle Joe into the dust stained red and raised his blade.

"Any final words, Joe?"

"Urghhh… yeah, if I haven't got more bonus points than you, I will scream."

"…What?"

"Come on, Kirby, just finish him off already!" a voice demanded.

Kirby sighed and pressed the button required to deliver an automatic kill.

" **TEAM POYO WINS!"**

Knuckle Joe threw down the controller with disgust. "I can't believe you beat me again; you don't even have thumbs!"

Kirby grinned. "I'm just good at fighting."

"In real life, yeah, but—"

Sirica rolled her eyes. "You two are so dramatic. And we would have won, Joe, if you had actually attacked Kirby when he was still in the trap!"

"In case you hadn't noticed, I was sprung by Level 5 monsters. You could have taken Kirby!"

"In case _you_ hadn't noticed, I was dealing with Benikage!"

Benikage gave a little smile. "I was lucky; I got an attack bonus. Speaking of which, the special bonuses are up now."

The group stared at the screen and ran through the expansive list. Knuckle Joe suddenly cried out.

"Oh, come on! I know I picked up more coins than you guys!"

"You're useless at this, Joe," Sirica moaned.

I was just unlucky!"

"That's what you get for calling yourselves 'Team Invincicool'," Benikage pointed out.

"Says the ones calling themselves 'Team Poyo'," Knuckle Joe muttered.

"You were the one who thought that funny," Kirby frowned. "And I haven't even said that for years."

"Are we done here, guys?" Sirica asked. She stretched out on the sofa and flicked a stray strand of white hair out of the way. "Some of us haven't got the luxury to be spending all day playing video games, you know."

"Neither have we," Knuckle Joe objected, "but we do have some time on our hands and don't pretend you don't enjoy this because I know you do. Now have we got some really crappy games? Because I wanna laugh at some crappy games."

"Um, I think we have that Boom 06 game," Benikage offered.

"Perfect. And then I'm gonna practice real hard so I can beat you good and proper, Kirby."

"Or perhaps," said a low voice at the back of the room, "we can prepare to practice for moves and abilities we are currently neglecting?"

The entire group immediately jumped and turned round to see Sir Arthur lurking by the door. Knuckle Joe, in his haste, fell off the sofa and onto the carpet. Sirica grabbed her custom blaster maintained with great meticulousness and shoved it into its holster. "Sir Arthur, I was just getting ready."

Knuckle Joe scrabbled upright. "Yeah, me too! Except I'm always ready, honestly."

"I'll believe you, Joe. Thousands wouldn't."

"Um," said Benikage, "we're not in trouble are we?"

"You won't be if you get moving now. Oh, Kirby," Sir Arthur added before they could all dash off. "I was asked to bring you a message in the assumption that you would be here: you now owe a full jar of sweets."

Kirby looked completely nonplussed for a moment until the meaning hit him.

"Ahh! I completely forgot!"

Kirby quickly said his farewells before launching himself out of the games room and down the long corridor that would take him to the training grounds as fast as his feet could carry him. On the way he passed several people including warriors, medics and intelligence officers who all glanced his direction as they saw the young boy rushing for his presumably late appointment. It was at moments like these when Kirby wished he wasn't such a familiar face in the GSA and that its headquarters wasn't quite so big.

The GSA, or the Galaxy Solider Army to give it its proper name, was an organisation that retained in its ranks a wide range of races hailing from many different lands and planets. It had been originally established to combat the scourge of Nightmare, a manifestation of nightmarish evil and creator of demonbeasts whose ambitions were to destroy and conquer entire lands, even entire planets. While Nightmare had been weakened by constant assaults, his immense power and demonbeast factories had eventually led to the near-complete decimation of the GSA leaving behind a scattering of Galaxy Soldiers and even less of the elite Star Warriors whom Nightmare had been especially keen to eradicate.

All hope had seemed lost for even if Nightmare was no longer at his full strength, prevented from doing so ever again thanks to the might of the GSA's finest forces, it appeared impossible that he should be destroyed completely. Yet one Star Warrior, armed with a legendary sword, had held onto hope beyond hope, despite believing that he was the last of the true Star Warriors and quite alone in his endeavours, and on a peaceful planet, spent years constructing an incredible star-faring ship with the help of no-one but his two apprentices sworn to loyalty and secrecy. With his own intuition and the advice of the local totem, he waited for a sign; a sign of the first new Star Warrior to head a new generation of fighters and revive the GSA, waiting for a warrior who would rise up with their mysterious gifts and a powerful spirit and destroy Nightmare for good.

What he got was an infant.

Nevertheless, he sensed a brimming power just like his own and saw that the child could wield the legendary blade that allowed only the worthy to even touch it, let alone fight with it. Despite the circumstances, he trained that child who was pitted against demonbeast after demonbeast, a child who was of such an age that he could not even speak.

The star-faring ship was completed and it was discovered that the veteran was not the last of the old Star Warriors after all. With combined strength, they were able to take the final assault to Nightmare himself, deep within his dark fortress, and it was with the power of the stars that the child delivered the killing blow to Nightmare and ended his reign of terror.

The power of the stars had since served the child well for the threat to the galaxy had not ended with Nightmare: it was only the beginning. Darkness that had slept for eons awoke from many hidden corners and aimed to destroy all life, all existence or corrupt it for its own unknown purposes. Even the planets themselves were under the threat of death. But with the GSA revived and the greatest of Star Warriors amongst their ranks, evil could be kept at bay and people could live largely in peace, thankfully ignorant of the fates that could otherwise have befallen them.

That child crashed into the training grounds, specifically the simulation area, and ended up sprawled on the floor.

"M-made it…" he gasped.

"Good evening, Kirby."

Kirby lifted his head slightly and saw his mentor not even looking his way but apparently engrossed in a book. "I heard you coming quite some distance away before you ask since you do rather make a din and it may come across as some surprise to you that I recognise the sound of your footsteps quite well."

Kirby didn't respond directly to that and said, "Meta, it's not evening."

"Really?" The Star Warrior put aside his book and stood up, wrapping his cape around his self in one smooth motion. "Were you any later, it would have indeed been evening and I would have perhaps retired early to seek comfort in my quarters or some other such place instead of bearing arms at such a late hour."

Kirby winced. "Sorry."

His mentor shook his head. "You do realise that I treat you lightly in comparison to the others?"

Kirby gave a lopsided smile. "Maybe?"

"I indulge you too much."

"What?" Kirby realised he was still on the floor and quickly picked himself up. "You call bringing me here to batter me with Galaxia and a bunch of monsters indulging me?"

From behind his silver mask, the warrior known as Meta Knight smirked. "Who else has that privilege? Now—" Meta Knight tossed an ordinary light bulb in Kirby's direction, "—we shall be focussing on combining elements of your Copy Ability again."

Kirby nodded expectantly and swallowed the light bulb whole, absorbing the electricity inside it to transform into Spark Kirby.

The warriors that made up the GSA had all manners of powers and skills but none so unique as Kirby's: the Copy Ability. The Copy Ability was one that allowed an individual to absorb the essence or element of a given material be it organic or otherwise and transform their inner power and outer appearance into that reflecting the chosen essence. This included and was not limited to essences such as: Fire, Bomb, Ice, Stone, Beam, Cutter and far more. Kirby's range was vast and yet there was more he had not yet discovered but would do so in time. Indeed, the main objective of his lessons with Meta Knight was to discover new abilities that could be potentially used in battle as well as fine-tuning and increasing the effectiveness of his previously established abilities. Kirby, as far as Meta Knight was concerned, was limitless in his potential.

As far as Kirby knew, he was the only living one who could wield this power even though Meta Knight had great and extensive knowledge of the ability. It certainly added to his overall unique qualities even if he couldn't quite understand how the hell it worked at all. It seemed completely illogical to suggest that his stomach was like a hole to another dimension which allowed him not only to possess abilities both expected and unexpected but also swallow various entities and vast quantities of food as well (and unfortunately hardly ever feel quite full enough as a result) but that was apparently how it worked or was at least the best description for it according to certain accounts. It was best not to think too much about it really.

Unlike most of the people on the planet Popstar or those in the GSA, Kirby was what was colloquially known as a 'puffball' and as such was often a person of considerable interest even if one was unaware of his past heroics. Meta Knight was considered a puffball too although their abilities differed noticeably for while Meta Knight did not possess the Copy Ability (as the mask he wore almost permanently made clear), he did have the gift of flight and limited teleportation abilities to boot. This was, however, unknown to all but a few including Kirby who had more than earned the old warrior's trust.

The similarities between the two had not gone unnoticed though. Both were spherical and fairly small (and although Meta Knight would never admit it, this was the most likely reason as to why he liked to gain an advantage of height above others on numerous occasions, purely for strategic reasons of course) and felt flexible and soft; a useful attribute to have when fighting demonbeasts and other foes, being able to soak up more damage than most. If Meta Knight actually removed his mask in public, it would be seen that both had surprisingly similar facial features as well. And both, it appeared, possessed a mysterious power linked to the stars. Perhaps that was why they were the only two currently known to be able to wield Galaxia.

Kirby's body crackled with bright electricity. He currently possessed something like a banded crown with blue sparks leaping from the top in short waves. He charged several bolts and sent them flying directly into the holographic monsters that was the simulation area's purpose. One tried to assault him from behind but Kirby dodged just in time and leapt high to unleash another attack from above, striking the foe with a great thunderbolt. The monster screeched and vanished.

"Very good," said Meta Knight though simulations were never going to be the same as the real thing. "Now try to combine Spark with Spark again."

Kirby grimaced. "Uhh, Meta…"

"I know what you are going to say but try to focus on letting the energies fuse together to create a new ability. Imagine the two combining together. Keep it focussed in your mind so they don't go out of control. I can't tell you exactly how the process should feel but it ought to go more smoothly as you refine your technique."

Kirby took the extra bulb from Meta Knight and stared at it already not believing it would work. A sudden roar brought him to attention; more monsters had been released and he needed to act quickly.

He understood the general principle: he needed to absorb the new ability whilst retaining the old one but in ordinary circumstances, the old one would vanish. Meta Knight had this idea though – something he had chanced across in an old tome had seemingly given him the inspiration – that Kirby could potentially combine his abilities and thus add more to his repertoire and discover more about his skills in the process. Logically speaking as well, it would be easier to combine the same two abilities rather than differing ones, at least until he was more accomplished at the task. So with that in mind, Kirby swallowed the light bulb and tried to mix the energy of its essence with that of Spark again. As he did so, Kirby noticed his body becoming brighter, almost filled with light. It was, in a way, quite beautiful.

Five seconds later, Kirby exploded and destroyed the floor beneath him, leaving behind a rather large crater. Meta Knight quickly cleared the monsters away and doused the smoking puffball with a hose kept for such occasions such as this and considered that it was just as well they were staying away from Bomb for the time being; heavens knew how much damage Kirby would cause with that, not to mention how Crash was completely out of the question. This was not the first time this had happened. He made a thoughtful sound.

"Still unstable but you did manage to hold it a little longer this time. If you combine anything with Bomb though, you'll need to learn how to control the explosion lest you also hurt any comrades that happen to be nearby."

Kirby groaned and coughed up smoke. "I don't think I'll get that far."

"You will do; I have every confidence in you. It will just take time and while it might seem impossible now, I know it can be done. Once you've mastered combining two things of the same essence, we may move on then to differing essences and see what result we can gain from them; I daresay you'll be able to combine Sword with a few elements like Fire and Ice. It might well be easier with Sword considering your experience with it. Now, let us take this again from the top."

Kirby tried his hardest – he always did for Meta Knight – but no matter what he did, he kept getting similar results and thus repeated failures. He could almost see the elements in his mind's eye merging together to create something desirable but if he looked at it any closer, it would pop like a delicate bubble and the combination would be lost. Until he had achieved consistent success with the technique during practice, it could potentially be dangerous for him to try it out on the field. Despite all this though, Meta Knight merely kept a neutral expression and when it was clear that Kirby wouldn't be achieving the move today, he tidied away their training equipment while Kirby took a well-deserved break. Once finished, he swept his cape aside and said, "Very well, we shall continue with the normal session."

Glad to move on to something else, Kirby took up his usual training sword and copied it to become Sword Kirby. Meta Knight allowed Galaxia to phase into existence from its hilt and once they gave each other a quick bow as per the tradition, they began to duel.

Kirby grimaced as he attempted to land a strike against his mentor whose superior speed ensured that he would deliver more hits than he would take despite his age. Meta Knight's yellow eyes occasionally glowed blue while he sparred with his student, his blade Galaxia striking hard against Kirby's sword, strengthened only by being copied. While fighting, Kirby knew that Meta Knight was activating a kind of skill that allowed him to unleash a burst of speed forcing the young Star Warrior to forever be on his guard for a surprise attack. He practically teleported about the battlefield and it was one such skill that rightfully defined him as a Star Warrior. Meta Knight was not one to make a duel easy, especially for Kirby. But as adrenaline pumped around Kirby's body and the two clashed against each other in the field, the pink puffball felt a familiar kind of pleasure.

Finally, after the sun had long since set, the Star Warriors lowered their swords, breathing heavily.

"Mmm, good work, Kirby." Meta Knight sheathed Galaxia into a scabbard no bigger than a cup. "It's clear your swordsmanship is not lacking."

Kirby made his ability vanish. "I should hope not; you've been teaching me it long enough."

"Indeed, just as I will teach you to combine your abilities on the field to help you ever more against the demonbeasts we must face. Is something the matter, Kirby?" he asked sensing a certain quietness.

"Meta… will there always be demonbeasts? Will there always be something we must fight against?"

His mentor's eyes flickered green for a moment. "I'm afraid so. The universe has always had its dark manifestations and there have always been good people ready to defend others against them. I doubt it will end any time soon. Why the question?"

"Oh, the Cappies were kinda asking…"

Kirby wished at times he could fully gauge Meta Knight's expression. As it was, Meta Knight had his cape around him as usual and his eyes remained a neutral yellow. "Hmm, I suppose they would though I cannot blame them for their anxiety – it is their home after all. But there is something else is there not?"

Kirby hesitated. "I just feel… a little outta sorts."

"You know where I am if you ever need me."

Kirby nodded. Yes, he always had Meta Knight's backing. He had done so ever since fighting demonbeasts from infancy.

"Well," said Meta Knight, "I won't keep you any longer. Do remember to be on time tomorrow won't you? I doubt the ice adepts will want to hang around for long; they may lose their cool."

"Yeah," said Kirby absent-mindedly. Being able to gain expertise in a variety of abilities, Meta Knight often used Kirby to demonstrate to Galaxy Soldiers how to use and improve their powers, most only possessing one kind and as such, was recognised by pretty much everybody in the organisation. He then realised what was just said. "Meta, that was terrible."

Meta Knight gave a light chuckle. "I know. And don't forget you owe me something."

Kirby gave a groan. "I guess I did agree to that."

"You did. Now give my regards to the others. Goodnight, Kirby."

"Night, Meta."

Kirby left the training grounds and assumed that Meta Knight would probably meet up with his old comrades afterwards. Kirby had half a mind to do something similar but instead he ended up leaving the GSA headquarters and walking towards the hills nearby. He needed some fresh air.

The night was cool but not unpleasantly so. Kirby sat down on the grass and gazed into the distance, the hill overlooking Cappy Town and the castle of King Dedede, the somewhat questionable ruler of Dream Land.

Kirby had not been born here; he had no idea of his true origins, but Dream Land was as much his home as anyone else's. He had crash-landed here in a little starship for one, arriving from an unknown destination, and had almost immediately been thrust into fighting for his life and that of others, first contending against a giant, fireball-shooting octopus demonbeast and most frequently against the machinations of a greedy and selfish king. Life had been hard when one was constantly attacked by terrible monsters more often than not capable of levelling entire villages. But Dream Land was worth fighting for. Sitting here now, with nothing but a stirring wind and the atmosphere of peace and serenity, he knew he would always protect Dream Land and everything in it and beyond that, Popstar. He couldn't imagine anything else.

It was just that… maybe he felt like he was missing something. Maybe he wanted something more.

Kirby lay back and watched the sparkling stars in the clear, night sky; he had always felt a great connection to the stars. He let out a sigh of contentment and felt the light breeze tickle him. Out here on his own surrounded by natural beauty, he could truly feel at peace. If only he could have more of this. If only such moments could be bottled.

As Kirby was star-gazing, he saw a number of shining objects shoot though the sky. Intrigued, Kirby sat upright for a better look and wondered if anyone else was also watching. It looked like a meteor shower; it was quite possibly the right time of year for them. He decided to remain some time just observing the natural phenomenon pass by, enjoying the rare opportunity of peace and privacy. It was not that often, he thought vaguely, that he had much time for himself. He spent many minutes just sat there, enjoying the moment while he could.

 _There's sure a lot of them. And they look like they're getting closer._ Not that Kirby was particularly worried; it was a pleasant sight to see and he was quite sure that most of them would burn up before reaching the ground anyway. He yawned widely and wondered whether he would end up falling asleep out here. That was until one of those objects struck Kirby directly and catapulted him forwards.

"AHH!"

Kirby grimaced in pain and would have tried to hold the spot where he was hit had it not come from behind where he could not reach that part of his body. He stood up, cautious of whether he was going to be hit again – he certainly didn't think that anything would have come from behind him when he could see the meteor shower in front of him – and spotted the glittering object in the grass.

"Huh?" Kirby went to inspect it. _It looks like a… crystal? I guess it would make a nice souvenir. Better than just getting a bruise at least._

Kirby thought briefly; the object looked safe enough. He swallowed the shard for safe-keeping – a highly-useful feature of his bottomless stomach – and decided he had better return. Only then was he struck by an even heavier object.

Kirby yelled loud and was sent sprawling. _What was that?!_

Wincing, he picked himself up and wondered if he had been hit by an even bigger crystal. To his surprise and alarm, it was actually a person and she appeared to be unconscious.

"H-hey, are you OK?"

Kirby rushed over and inspected the person. She seemed to be breathing fine at least. Oddly enough, she was gripping a shard just like the one Kirby had picked up. Was she the cause of the shower just now?

Kirby didn't know what to do. Should he try waking her up or leave her and get help? Yet soon after thinking this, the decision was made for him as the stranger's eyes flickered open.

"Um, are you—"

"Get away from me!"

Kirby quickly stepped back as the stranger tried to swat having little energy to do anything else. Nothing appeared to be broken at least. "Uhhhhh, I don't know what happened but you're safe here." The stranger blinked in confusion.

"Are… are they still following me?"

"Uhh, I didn't see anything." Kirby wished he had something more useful to say. The stranger clutched her shard tightly and began to quiver.

"The Great Crystal's broken…" she whispered. Tears began to blossom. "I was meant to protect it. I didn't get away in time and it's all my fault. My people… they… they're in trouble. They..." She looked completely lost and before Kirby knew it, she began to loudly cry.

Kirby stood still and for a moment felt clueless. He never really knew how to deal with crying people much as he wanted to help them, especially as he often felt himself affected by their emotions. He gingerly touched the stranger's arm. "Um, try… try not to worry." The stranger only bawled louder. Kirby winced. So much for that. "Uhhhhh, really, I can probably help you."

"How can you?" she wailed. "The Great Crystal's shattered into who knows how many pieces, my planet's been attacked by some weird cloud thing and everyone I know is probably gonna _die!_ "

Kirby knew he couldn't offer that many words of comfort in her current state so he said, "I'll take you to the Galaxy Soldier Army. Whatever it is, we'll come up with something. Please don't cry; we'll help you however we can."

It was several minutes before the stranger's tears subsided and left her with hiccups. The offer was nice, perhaps said without his understanding, but it was impossible. Absolutely impossible. And yet on her own in a land she didn't even know the name of, she knew she had no choice but to go with this... odd-looking person.

"I'm Kirby," the odd-looking person said. "What's your name?"

"I'm… I'm Ribbon." And with that, suddenly finding the tumultuous events of her ordeal catching up with her, she fainted.

Kirby immediately went to pick her up. She was a little bigger than him but certainly nothing he couldn't handle. Taking great care, he hoisted Ribbon onto his back and slowly headed for the GSA headquarters. It was going to be a long night.


	2. A Noble Endeavour

**Chapter 2: A Noble Endeavour**

Ribbon didn't know how many hours had passed when she finally woke up (indeed, she didn't find out until later that she had been out for a whole day). It took a moment or two to register where she was. She eventually realised she was lying in a comfortable bed in a fairly spacious room which, after some thought, she determined to be some kind of medical bay. She was also the only person here presently which she considered a welcome blessing. She felt unbelievably tired but neither could she sleep; she had an awful lot of thinking to do.

Ripple Star had been engulfed by some force of darkness – had it been wholly covered by now? Was she the only inhabitant to escape from the planet during the assault? What was going to happen to the people there? They needed the Great Crystal but…

The Great Crystal had been broken.

All Ribbon could do was despair. Without the Great Crystal, she could not hope to lift the mysterious miasma and while it was possible to fix the Great Crystal with all its pieces gathered, how on earth was she supposed to find them all? They had likely been scattered on different planets within the Gamble Galaxy if they weren't floating about in space so to locate each and every one? It was impossible! She had been entrusted to protect the Great Crystal and she had instantly failed!

 _The Great Crystal will guide you. It will find someone to help you._ How was it supposed to do that? What use was one single shard?

One shard…

Ribbon looked about and to her utmost relief, saw that whoever had carried her here had placed the shard on a bedside cabinet next to her. She picked it up and hugged it tightly. The idea that she had to find all the other shards was far easier said than done. She had no idea how the other Crystal Guardians would have gone about it or even if they had survived. With that in mind, the burden fell entirely to her even though she was a complete novice and lacking the necessary experience. But perhaps… the strangers here would help her. It was her only possible hope and an extremely faint one at that. If not…

Ribbon jumped when the door handle suddenly began to turn.

"Ah, lovely, you're awake."

Ribbon tensed a little as the peculiar creature floated towards her. It appeared to be a small, black blob wearing what could only be described as a capsule-shaped suit consisting of red metal at the bottom and transparent glass at the top. Its fingerless hands floated a little from the body and it lacked any kind of feet or legs, a trait Ribbon would soon find to be rather common amongst the many races here. Ribbon tried not to gape; what kind of planet had she crashed on?

"My name's Kemi and I will be your doctor today," the floating being continued. "How are you feeling, Miss Ribbon?"

"Um… OK, I guess, thank you," she replied, remembering her manners even in this strange environment. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh, Kirby told us. He carried you all the way here, you know."

"Kirby…" The name sounded familiar. "Wait, the pink boy?"

The doctor nodded approvingly. "Yes, lovely creature. He also said that you somehow fell from the sky?"

"Yes…" Ribbon whispered. Only the Crystal Shard could have protected her from that fall. This was all too much. "S-sorry, I don't know what this place is at all. I don't even know what planet this is…"

"Try not to distress yourself, my dear," Kemi said, seeing Ribbon start to well up. She handed Ribbon a box of tissues and poured a glass of water. "Well, for starters, have you heard of the planet Popstar?"

"I… I think so," Ribbon quavered. She tried to recall its position on the interstellar charts she had been examining during her training. "It's supposed to be a very beautiful planet."

"I can certainly agree with that. And yes, that means you're on Popstar."

"Popstar…" _But that's surely light years away from Ripple Star!_ she thought. She took a shaky gulp of water to cover her shock and almost splashed herself.

"Now I don't know if there's any of us on your planet but I'm a Chemitory and as you can probably tell, anything medical-related is our natural profession. You'll see many different races on Popstar and in Dream Land, the kingdom we're in now, though the most numerous happen to be Cappies and Waddle Dees here."

Ribbon nodded, too dazed to speak.

"The building we're in now is the GSA Headquarters or the Galaxy Soldier Army to give its full name. Have you heard of it?"

"I heard Kirby mention it," Ribbon said doubtfully as if unsure of herself, "but I don't really know anything about it."

"Really? Well, the commanders will be most interested then. They will need to speak with you later in any case and inform you about how this organisation works."

No doubt they wanted to verify her story, Ribbon thought. No doubt they wanted to find out more about the Crystal Shard as well.

"You'll find out everything you need to know soon enough," said Kemi kindly. "Now if you don't mind, I'll need to carry out some routine examinations before I can declare you medically fit for later if that's OK. You were very lucky not to have been seriously injured in that fall of yours."

Ribbon wasn't exactly comfortable being administered to by a creature from a species she had never even heard of, let alone seen before but she let the doctor carry out her work and slowly she began to calm down seeing that she appeared to be in good hands.

 _But what are these commanders like?_ she couldn't help but think to herself. _And what exactly is the Galaxy Soldier Army?_

Once Kemi had deemed herself satisfied, declaring that there were no broken bones of any kind and barely even bruises to speak of, she ordered a meal to be brought in and soon a hearty stew was set before Ribbon. She didn't think that she could possibly be hungry until the smell hit her and she soon enough devoured the whole lot in evident enjoyment; there was no sense in starving one's self after all, particularly when the later meeting would require all of her attention. Kemi also advised that Ribbon try and get more sleep before she was called for, even if that was too soon in her professional opinion. Ribbon did try to sleep in the interim but unlike the food, she knew soon enough that it was impossible and while the doctor was in another room, presumably checking on other patients, she got up and began pacing up and down with the Crystal Shard in hand, quite unable to keep her trembling in check.

Before she knew it, there was a knock on the door.

Kemi came floating in and chose not to comment on Ribbon being out of bed. She opened the door to reveal a small figure dressed for some reason like a ninja although Ribbon was sure that ninjas didn't normally wear red.

Kemi sighed. "You haven't hit yourself with a shuriken again have you, Benikage?"

"Uhh, no ma'am!" Benikage squeaked. "I haven't done that in ages; I'm really a proper, _proper_ ninja now. I'm just here to escort Miss Ribbon to the conference room. Um, that's if she's OK that is."

"Is this to see the commanders?" Kemi prompted.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry. Um, they want to talk to you about what happened and I don't know much more than that I'm afraid."

Ribbon looked at the Chemitory doctor expectantly who said, "If you're feeling fine enough, my dear, and since you don't appear to have any problems, I can discharge you."

Well, there was no point in hanging about. Ribbon nodded. "I'm ready. Um, thank you for your help, Doctor Kemi."

"Not a problem, that's what I'm here for, my dear."

Leaving the medical bay behind, Benikage led Ribbon through what appeared to be a labyrinthine path. For a headquarters though, Ribbon had to admit that it was surprisingly pleasant-looking with great care taken to spruce the place up with as much vibrant plant life as possible, the walls painted with a colour scheme pleasing to the eye and expansive windows in many sections designed to let in plenty of life, giving the interiors a brighter feel. There were many great pieces of art hung on the walls too, quite a few of which were signed with the name Adeleine. The air was clean, avoiding that uncomfortable stuffiness found in so many civic buildings and the carpets were soft to the touch and rather comfortable to walk on. True, by anyone's opinion, the headquarters' exterior was nothing to speak about but one did not advertise the organisation's actual purpose and so a plain office look on the outside would more than suffice any onlookers while the inside could be made as delightful as they all wished.

"Nice, isn't it?" said Benikage, seeing Ribbon looking here and there. "When you've been out on the field for hours, heck, even days at a time, you tend to want something nice to come back to. And since Dream Land's such a nice kingdom, we had to make this place nice, at least on the inside I guess. It's a bit out of the way I suppose but it's not too big a deal. And besides, if we didn't have it a little out of the way, Whispy Woods might have got upset with us."

Ribbon frowned. "Who's Whispy Woods?"

"He's like a guardian of the forests around here and if he likes you, you might get an apple or two. Kirby gets them a lot. Hey, uh, it's funny, your hair is just as pink as Kirby is!"

 _That name again,_ Ribbon thought. Benikage then swiftly blushed.

"Um, sorry, I don't mean anything bad by it; it's very nice. Uhh, I'm not being forward or anything! It's just I haven't met anyone like you before and… oh, jeez, the guys would laugh at me if they heard this…"

"It's fine," said Ribbon, finding herself liking the ninja. "Um, is Kirby a friend of yours?"

Benikage brightened up. "Oh yeah. You could say he's practically everyone's friend. He helps me out with my ninja skills as well when I haven't got the official lessons which is funny because he's like what, eight or so years younger than me officially, officially?"

Ribbon tilted her head to one side. "What do you mean 'officially'?"

"Oh, he crash-landed here when he was a really little kid so we don't know his exact age really."

This information was quite interesting to Ribbon. _I wonder if it was like how I crash-landed here?_ she thought.

Ribbon let Benikage talk at length, hoping that the constant stream of mundane chatter would provide a distraction to her turmoiled thoughts. He seemed easy enough to get along with and a friendly sort of fellow. She didn't even notice that she had arrived at the conference room despite the big sign slapped on the door until the ninja specifically pointed it out.

"I'm not allowed to go in there," Benikage admitted, "so you'll have to go in by yourself so, um, good luck."

"Thank you," Ribbon replied. _I'll need more than luck though._

Taking a deep breath, Ribbon let herself be admitted and be at the mercy of the commanders of the Galaxy Soldier Army.

* * *

 _Dark figures slowly closed the gap between themselves and the planet that shimmered like a star. The being they sought was here. The creature they needed to take was here. It was not to be destroyed. They were injured but alive and therefore they were still able to carry out their Master's wishes. Only death would prevent them from doing so._

 _The terrible light of the planet threatened to pierce their outer bodies but they prevailed. Their brethren had been here before. They were strong. They had to enter._

 _Soon they passed through the golden atmosphere and began their search._

* * *

Ribbon could not help but gasp as she entered the room.

The area in question was large and the people occupying it were seated around a low, round table. In the centre was a glowing star chart that could be touched to highlight different points though each occupant had their own copies of the charts for a quick point of reference. One side of the room held a series of long bookshelves each groaning with heavy, leather-bound tomes, records and maps that had been collected over many years by various members of the GSA and collated together to add to their ever-increasing database about all things concerned with the Gamble Galaxy. A cabinet in the corner contained such important things as extra paper, pens and so forth whilst to the other side of that were strange items that Ribbon did not know the purpose of: emblems of acceptance to gain admittance in different lands, also communication devices by the looks of things and maybe pieces that once belonged to old starships and were displayed for remembrance's sake. And of course, there were the extra weapons and armour hoisted against the wall. For self-defence. Just in case.

"Welcome, Miss Ribbon. Please be seated and thank you for coming promptly. Would you like coffee or tea?"

Ribbon blinked. It was hardly the first question she'd been expecting.

"Um, coffee please. Milk, no sugar."

"An excellent choice."

There was only one spare seat around the table and to her surprise, it was next to Kirby who cheerily waved her over. It seemed strange that such a young person should be here mind; he looked out of place amongst the larger, armoured warriors but perhaps they had asked him to attend because he was the one who had brought Ribbon to the GSA Headquarters. She took a seat and gratefully accepted a cup for no meeting could be conducted without the liberal application of a hot brew, not to mention a biscuit or two. It was remarkably excellent. She felt a tiny bit of tension ease.

"Now," said the first speaker, a male adorned in golden armour and a light green mask from behind which purple-blue eyes could be discerned, "before we get onto the primary matter, I'd like to introduce ourselves first. My name is Sir Arthur and my comrades are Sir Falspar, Sir Dragato, Sir Nonsurat, Sir Meta Knight and Kirby."

Each of those introduced waved in response or at least inclined their heads. Out of the five named sirs, four of them removed their masks to reveal faces that were like those of puffballs although not quite the same. The one with the peculiar glowing, yellow eyes kept his mask on however.

"Very well," said Sir Arthur, taking an appreciative sip, "we know so far that you arrived from another planet and somehow fell from the sky holding a mysterious crystal object as you are doing now." Ribbon realised with a jolt she hadn't let the shard go in all this time. "You remarked that you were apparently being followed by something or someone; more than one entity in fact, and you were in considerable distress over not only this particular crystal of yours being broken in some way but that your planet and people were under a great threat, perhaps with the chance of death being involved. Is this true?"

Ribbon nodded, unsure where this was heading.

"We represent the Galaxy Soldier Army, also known as the GSA. Have you heard of us on your planet before?"

Ribbon shook her head. "Um, no," she whispered. "I don't really remember the GSA being mentioned before. It might have been but I don't know. I only heard about it for the first time yesterday."

"Interesting. What is the name of your planet?"

"R-Ripple Star."

There was a series of low murmurs. Subsequently, the location of Ripple Star was searched for and once found, expanded on the interstellar chart for a clear, three-dimensional view of the planet in question, displaying also its position within the Gamble Galaxy and its distance from Popstar at all points of their respective orbits. The celestial body currently appeared in its normal state as opposed to what it had become since the invasion. Ribbon looked longingly at the image and sighed knowing how her planet had been cruelly polluted by that dark, choking cloud. Records were also produced although these were sparse and infrequently dated; it seemed that there had not been much business to conduct upon Ripple Star before now which given their usual business, could be considered rather a good thing, although to be fair, the GSA's resources had been non-existent for a lengthy amount of time until rather recently.

"I've been there before; quite some years ago in fact," Sir Nonsurat reminisced. "A heart-shaped planet with a pink atmosphere when seen from beyond much like Popstar's is golden. Beautiful land, beautiful cities, beautiful fairies – you are a fairy, aren't you?"

"Y-yes, sir," Ribbon answered. Her delicate, clear wings marked her so and they indeed enabled her to fly; perhaps not as well as the average bird and inadvisable during poor conditions, but she could fly nonetheless. "Just one of the common type of fairies really."

"There's nothing common about fairies at all! I was once in the Aero Region of Ripple Star and—"

"Thank you, Sir Nonsurat," Sir Arthur cut across. "We don't need that story again."

"Ah, sorry, Sir Arthur," the turquoise knight said although he couldn't quite help but grin. "It was a pleasant time though. It was one of the few truly peaceful planets in the Gamble Galaxy."

"It isn't so peaceful now…" Ribbon murmured before she could stop herself.

"Well," said Sir Arthur, "the GSA pledges itself upon being the protectors of the galaxy; we have so for many years. In our fighting ranks we have many Galaxy Soldiers and a few Star Warriors – the elite among us – and many people possessing vital skills that help us communicate with and support people in different lands on different planets. We have fought against the forces of evil time and time again and our reward is a galaxy of relative peace and security, one that is happy and secure with itself. If anything threatens those ideals, we'll be the first to restore those affected to harmony. As such, we will be grateful to you if you describe the exact circumstances that led to your arrival in Dream Land on Popstar."

Slowly, Ribbon began to explain what had happened: the day had started off normally enough with the exception of an impending storm. However, not so long afterwards, a powerful dark malevolence had suddenly appeared out of nowhere; no normal invaders or anything like that. She had heard terrible screams and she assumed that those people had been assaulted by that evil force though she had not exactly witnessed it with her own eyes. All she was concerned about was getting to the Great Crystal.

Sir Falspar adjusted the settings on the interstellar chart and smoothed his red mohawk. "Hmm, Ripple Star looks to be closest to Shiver Star although that place doesn't have any true sentient races anymore. They disappeared under mysterious circumstances a long time ago leaving only a frozen, mechanical wasteland; perhaps an example of their own folly. They did have those strange factories there and we know that demonbeasts have roamed the continents there previously."

"I doubt they would have the intelligence to wage that kind of assault," said Sir Dragato drily. Without his mask, he carried quite the stern expression. "Especially if they are not beholden to any kind of master and there is still a significant distance between those planets. For an assault to be on a planetary scale, it must have been coordinated. But I wonder. Ripple Star is so far away from Popstar; how on earth did you come to arrive here?"

"By the Great Crystal," Ribbon explained.

Sir Dragato raised an eyebrow. "Just the Great Crystal?"

"Let her explain," Sir Arthur said. "Continue, child."

The Great Crystal, Ribbon continued, was an extraordinarily powerful, magical artefact that had existed on Ripple Star for as long as anybody could recall and was kept safely contained within the Fairy Queen's palace in the Fae Kingdom. It had been guarded for generations and the legends spoke of its power to purify people and the land. Ribbon spoke tentatively of how she had recently been appointed a Crystal Guardian of which duties involved not only guarding the Great Crystal but drawing out the energies of lesser Crystals strewn across the lands for healing purposes and as a clean source of power for running their industries and keeping their homes warm and bright. Crystal Guardians also traditionally served as part of their ruling monarch's retinue and as such it was a permanent role and one considered a great honour; an employment to be considerably proud of. Crystal Guardians were few and far in-between though as only select individuals could draw out even a little energy from a Crystal Shard so there were never many people to pass down the training that had been conducted for over a millennium. Still, Ribbon had only been approached as there was apparently history of the role in her family and as fortune would have it, she possessed the aptitude for the training and had her future secured for life. However, she had only recently been engaged to the position before the disaster struck and as such had little training to her name and incomplete knowledge regarding the Great Crystal.

What did she know however was that while powerful, the Great Crystal was unfortunately fragile and as such was at risk of destruction from invaders or those who wished to use it for their own nefarious ends. The queen had ordered her to take the Great Crystal away as there were no other Crystal Guardians nearby and find help for their planet. Ripple Star's greatest treasure had managed to protect her during the escape but she had been hunted down by the invaders and they successfully broke the Great Crystal. Somehow, she had ended up here.

During this time, Sir Nonsurat had been flicking through the GSA records.

"This kind of thing has never happened on your planet before, has it?" he enquired.

"I don't believe so, sir," Ribbon answered.

"I suppose not. Chances are it would have been in our records if it had."

"Can it cross dimensions this Great Crystal?" Sir Falspar asked. "It would not be unknown for such a thing to happen for it to allow you to travel such a vast distance."

"I… don't really know. I was being attacked at the time." Ribbon then recalled how space seemed to form a tunnel around her almost like a wormhole although she hadn't paid attention to it at the time. "I guess it would though."

"These attackers," Sir Arthur prompted. "Were they part of the main assault on Ripple Star?"

"Yes. They seemed to come from this dark cloud and there were three of them. They had a single eye each and they looked like dark orbs but I don't know what they were…"

"They are part of an entity known as Dark Matter."

Ribbon turned to face the speaker as did the others. The warrior had his long cape draped across his body and he still wore his silver mask. Before him rested a pen and several neatly scribed pages; evidently, he had been taking copious notes. His previously yellow eyes were now glowing green in deep thought.

"I thought it had been destroyed," Sir Falspar frowned.

For some reason, one that was curious to Ribbon, Kirby shifted on the spot and looked almost… guilty.

The warrior with the colour-shifting eyes noticed and said as much for his protégé's benefit as anyone else's, "That individual known as Dark Matter Blade was destroyed but the rest, no. It is incredibly doubtful that such an enemy and its leader can be destroyed wholly being manifestations that have existed for millennia; you know this as well as I do. Dark Matter constantly replenishes itself even if we get rid of the stronger individuals so we can only hope to subdue it for some time. It is back far sooner than I would have hoped but it is not so surprising; the signs are clear." It had been obvious from near the start but in their experience, it was unwise to jump to conclusions too quickly. He looked at Ribbon. "Tell me, did you happen to notice perchance a being of great size, shaped as a singular, bloodied eyeball?"

The image made the fairy shudder.

"N-no. I just saw those black orbs."

"if you saw multiple of those orbs, that Dark Matter, and they came from a dark cloud that had the power to envelop Ripple Star, its leader Zero will still be alive."

"How can it be? That thing was destroyed along with the Hyper Zone," Sir Falspar insisted. "It exploded for heavens' sake."

Kirby had been sat next to Meta Knight this entire time and was bored and frustrated at his seemingly pointless presence here, required only because he was a Star Warrior like the others. Now he felt a sudden chill in the air. A black, cloud-like void that covered the skies of Dream Land, drawing its surroundings into a seeming nothingness, its mysterious arms spreading to all five corners of their world, an intense silence that characterised the inner environment and the strange orbs that abounded that space, threatening to dissolve an intruder into that same nothingness, and the thudding intensity that remained ever-growing, its origin unknown, and in the centre of the oblivion was the one known as Zero. All that passed into the void was the Warp Star and its rider. One person that the world had to depend on and if he had failed…

"We should be able to use the Love-Love Stick again, right?" Sir Dragato asked, punctuating the question with a scoff. Love-Love Stick indeed. Who on earth had given it that name in the first place?

Kirby hesitated as he spoke for the first time in the meeting. It was impossible to shake off the reminders of that dark time. "It vanished after destroying Zero; I don't know where it went."

Sir Dragato gave a stern look of glowering exasperation. The fact that only the boy had entered, was the only one able to enter, was something of a considerable frustration for want be of a better description, that they had needed to depend on him alone. "What use is your power if—"

"Sir Dragato, please." Meta Knight held up a hand. "Kirby has no control over that. The Heart Stars were only created both as a result of Popstar's energies in reaction to the Dark Matter assault and the emotions of the people during that time. We will not have that same opportunity again since Popstar is not the main target this time."

As Sir Dragato sat back murmuring to himself, Ribbon asked, "Does that mean this planet has been attacked by this… Dark Matter as well?"

"Indeed," Meta Knight answered. "The first time it was thankfully contained within Dream Land alone although the GSA had not yet set up quarters here, still gathering recruits and it was still gathering by the time of the second assault so there were still very few of us here on Popstar." He gave a meaningful look to Sir Dragato. "But that was then. Clearly, we must gather the Crystal Shards and restore them to their full glory and then use the Great Crystal to cleanse Ripple Star and reduce Zero's influence before it is fought once more."

Ribbon was doubtful about the success of this course of action and voiced her concerns to the group about how the shards must surely have scattered everywhere unless they had some special resources available to them. The only piece of information she felt she could offer that would prove useful was that the shards were meant to be connected to one another and sense each other's presence in the event that it was ever broken like now and they would be compelled to draw to one another. If on the field with at least one shard, then perhaps it could help pinpoint the next like a compass. She tried dredging up her scant lessons; perhaps, if they were extremely fortunate, the connection between the shards had allowed them to not be distributed so very far from each other on whichever planets they had landed upon. Maybe, she did not voice this thought for fear of sounding ridiculous, maybe the shards _wanted_ to be found, they _wanted_ to be whole again, and it would somehow be easier for one of skill to locate them in the first place. It was but a wishful hope.

Sir Falspar, clearly the technical-minded one of the group, stood up and inputted some data into the console before him and Ribbon saw a string of numbers flash on screen that made not an ounce of sense to her. The image displayed on the interstellar chart changed in an instant and a number of blue lights emerged, dotting the surface of the holographic planets. "We are able to detect the energy signatures of the various shards on the different planets," Sir Falspar spoke with a hint of pride. "Very weak of course over such a distance so we can't be sure of the exact locations but at least we know there are none drifting in space. I daresay I'll be able to finetune the process even further given time and a few more examples."

"How do you know this?" Ribbon questioned. She held her shard as if for dear life. "How do you have the energy signature?"

"Kirby," Sir Arthur commanded.

The pink puffball pulled out another shard exactly like Ribbon's and placed it on the table.

"Where did you get that?" Ribbon said suddenly, trying not to sound accusatory.

"It hit me while I was outside not long before you did," Kirby replied.

"Oh." Ribbon would later notice that Kirby had quite the bruise on his back. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright," Kirby smiled. "I've been hit by worse things before."

The GSA leader drained his third cup of coffee. "Now, Miss Ribbon, if you would hand over your shard, something may happen."

Ribbon was almost inclined to say no, not wanting to let go, but something in the golden warrior's voice made her obey. She made to move the shard over to Sir Arthur but the shard floated of its own accord and joined with the other shard that Kirby had previously set down. There was a flash of light and the two had become a single bigger shard. Sir Arthur nodded. "It is a start."

The Crystal Shard drifted back down and for the first time Ribbon had hope.

"I think it would be best to gather all the shards on Popstar first before we move onto the other planets if possible," Sir Arthur remarked. "We shall need to work out how best to conduct an effective search with the numbers we have."

As the high-ranking warriors debated the logistics of the search, Meta Knight murmured to Kirby, "It looks as if your fate will be intertwined with that of Zero once more."

"I guess so…"

Ribbon heard their words. She wasn't sure what to make of that.

Later on, after much heated discussion and arguing, the meeting finally drew to a close.

"We will send out our best warriors as soon as possible," Sir Arthur informed the fairy, "and we will need to discuss further issues concerning Zero and Dark Matter for it may be that they will make themselves known on Popstar." The golden warrior pressed a button. "We will have someone escort you to the guest chambers and we'll let you know of further arrangements as soon as we have finished discussions."

"Um, thank you everyone," Ribbon mumbled. "I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

"Not at all. It is for the purpose of the galaxy that we embark on this endeavour. We shall speak to you later."

Her audience was now at an end. The fairy thanked them once again and headed out, noticing how Meta Knight and Kirby were looking her way. Out of them all, they were the two who intrigued her the most, Kirby especially. Just who was Kirby exactly?

She would find out more in the future.

* * *

Later that night, Kirby sat on the roof of the GSA headquarters and stared out to Cappy Town and Castle Dedede, counting how many lights were switched on, certain that this time he wouldn't be struck by anything out of the blue. He often came up here to think and have some privacy even though he technically wasn't allowed on the roof, although no-one had ever explicitly forbidden him from doing so. Right now, he hoped that he would not be disturbed as his thoughts kept running around in circles and he was having great trouble sorting them out.

The references to Zero and the Dark Matter race brought up bad memories for the young Star Warrior. It was not so very long ago when he had fought the hardest battle of his life in taking down Zero deep within the Hyper Zone before the incomprehensible horror could consume their world whole. Armed only with Heart Stars that formed a rod with a bright heart at its tip, Kirby had struggled against Zero alone when he and he alone had been dragged into the heart of the oblivion by some unknown force. Everything was screaming at him to flee this terror, flee this empty space, and yet he found that the only way he could leave was by death of one or the other. The void became filled with blood shot forth from openings in Zero's eye and Kirby had been forced to evade the erratic eyeball being, flinging hearts from the Love-Love Stick as hard as he could to block the attacks. He remembered Zero's last-ditch attempt to kill him, furiously detaching the red retina from the rest of the eye and a shower of blood spurting out, the bloodied eye then continuously circling around Kirby and violently ramming into him, attempting to knock him into the endless void, to fall for eternity. Severely weakening itself in the process, it could not defend itself from Kirby now taking the opportunity to maniacally fire heart after heart into the detached eye. Before long, Zero spiralled out of control, severely haemorrhaging, then finally exploding. The void had vanished soon after and blue skies returned and Kirby plummeted to the earth below, landing before all those waiting for him, desperate for his safe return, who saw Kirby covered in blood that was not his own.

Alone now, Kirby hugged himself tightly. More than once had he been depended upon to save people he loved and cared for, save the world even. Now that Meta Knight felt Kirby was destined to fight Zero again, the young Star Warrior was sure that his mentor could not be wrong. He desperately hoped that this would prove untrue but his mentor was rarely wrong. Something would conspire to place him in the centre of events yet again and he would have no choice but to face it. Despite the presence of more experienced, older warriors than him, the burden would fall on his shoulders, a weight that felt heavier than ever.

He looked to the stars in the night sky, his usual comfort; now they seemed dim, cold and too far away. He knew that Zero would be making plans beyond the domination of Ripple Star, plans that concerned the other worlds in their galaxy and plans that concerned Popstar, infesting the planets for its own twisted purpose. And just like last time, demonbeasts would arise and it would be his job to eradicate them no matter what.

He didn't know how right he would be.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Just a quick note though even though I tend not to add notes at the end of a chapter. I originally called the doctor Kemi as a derivative of the Japanese name for the enemy which was something like 'Chemitory' while the English was purported to be 'Pillah'. This has since changed to also be 'Chemitory' which makes the personal name choice to be a bit like a "A Lizard Named Liz" situation but the name's stuck in my mind so I'm not changing it now. ^^**


	3. A Trip Into Cappy Town

**Proof-reading and editing sure is a hard task. Hope you're enjoying this so far though!. :) This chapter wasn't too difficult to write if I remember rightly though there were some changes. Commander Vee was originally going to be in this but I decided to cut her to ensure better focus on more major characters and make sure they do things. What could have been I guess. ^^**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: A Trip Into Cappy Town**

"This is absolutely delicious!" said Ribbon with a smile.

"You did hear that this is space food, right?"

"Yes, but this is still wonderful."

Benikage chuckled. "You must be hungry then, especially considering that Chef Kawasaki makes this. Then again, his space food is good; it's the normal stuff that tends to be bad. A lot of the soldiers here will eat at his restaurant but then fighting monsters all the time makes you just want to eat stuff rather than actually taste it."

The next day, Benikage had been tasked to show Ribbon around the GSA Headquarters in the assumption that she would be staying here for quite some time since the quest was unlikely to be a short one, and the ninja was quite happy to oblige. He had shown Ribbon the all-important games room frequented by younger warriors, the fighting arenas, the starship hangars where students learnt their mechanical skills for maintaining starships and where test-driving took place, the gardens and more. Now they were in the mess hall taking a quick break. There were a few Galaxy Soldiers here and there not doing much in particular. They didn't really glance Ribbon's way; perhaps they were used to seeing off-worlders in the GSA Headquarters.

"So what made you become part of the GSA?" Ribbon asked.

"Oh, well, back in the really old days, the Galaxy Solider Army used to have a lot of ninjas helping them out and it would be a great honour helping out those that needed helping. I managed to finally graduate from ninja school and I thought the best place to make use of my skills was here and my teachers pretty much agreed." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "I admit I was a pretty bad student at first; all my grades were triangles at one point but with a lot of help and encouragement from a good friend, I got my circles and I kinda wanted to repay the debt so here I am."

"That friend wouldn't happen to be Kirby by any chance, would it?" Ribbon said.

"You're right! How did you know?"

"It's just that I've heard quite a few people around here speak well of him. Is Kirby really a warrior? He looks a bit… well…" Ribbon didn't want to say that he looked like a kid or simply too young to be a warrior or soldier; he was probably a similar age to her for a start (or at least officially so). To Ribbon's surprise, Benikage laughed.

"Don't be fooled by his size, you won't believe your eyes when you can see the stuff he can do. Not to mention he's the reason the GSA was revived in the first place."

Ribbon gave him a curious look. "What do you mean? What can—"

"Oh, I'll let Kirby explain that. Speaking of which, looks like he's here now. Over here, Kirby!"

Benikage waved to the pink puffball; he noticed and immediately came walking over to their spot. Ribbon took the time to regard Kirby critically: he didn't carry any weapons nor did he wear any armour. He looked soft and cuddly. He looked young. He _sounded_ young. There was nothing to denote him as a warrior whatsoever. _He just looks cute._

"Hey Benikage, hey, Ribbon. Joe said I'd find you here." He yawned widely.

"Did someone go to bed late last night?" Benikage teased him.

"Huh? Oh, I just couldn't sleep."

"You? You sleep like a log. You didn't even realise you swallowed a pillow that time." Kirby's cheeks, already showing clear red marks, reddened further.

"That was _one_ time! Why do people keep reminding me of that?"

Ribbon could only listen to this exchange with bewilderment. _How can anyone swallow a pillow? Maybe it's some code thing…_

"Anyway," Kirby pressed on, "Sir Arthur said I should show you about Cappy Town and ask the people if they've seen any Crystal Shards about and maybe check things out with Dedede as well since he's a magnet for trouble and he'll probably speak to me more than the others. Kinda."

"Dedede?"

"He's the king of Dream Land. Well, sorta. It's a bit hard to explain. Shall we go?"

Ribbon had hoped that the veteran Star Warriors would have come to a conclusion by now but there was nothing she could do to rush things along. Perhaps there was much they needed to organise first. A visit to the nearby town would be a welcome distraction. As such, they made their farewells to Benikage and Kirby led Ribbon out of the GSA Headquarters and onto the main road that would lead them to Cappy Town. For a while, Ribbon didn't know what to say; she had never been out on her own with a male before and certainly not one who wasn't a fairy. Fortunately, Kirby was more than happy to talk.

"You'll like it in Dream Land," he was saying. "It's a really beautiful place especially at night when the stars are out. It can be a bit quiet at times but a lot of the Galaxy Soldiers here prefer that. I'll show you the castle later as well; Dedede might want to impress you since you're a visitor but that depends on his mood. Hey, it's a bit of a walk from here to Cappy Town; how would you like to ride there on my Warp Star?"

"Um…" As Ribbon deliberated, she noticed Kirby's striking blue eyes, almost reflective of the stars. They were really quite something. Perhaps it was they that convinced Ribbon to accept the offer. "OK, I'd certainly like to see it."

"Great!" said Kirby brightly. He then turned away from Ribbon and yelled, "WARP STAR! Oh, er, sorry," Kirby mumbled, realising he'd made the fairy jump. "I have to do that. It'll be here in a moment."

Ribbon wondered what on earth Kirby was thinking but then she heard an odd sound and looked up to the skies. She saw a golden star drifting downwards until it was by Kirby's side. He patted it fondly.

"I've been riding this ever since I was a baby," he said proudly, "before I could even speak."

"I thought it was some kind of starship…" Ribbon murmured, watching the star float in one spot.

"Huh? Oh, I guess I should have mentioned that." Kirby looked troubled for a moment but he almost immediately brightened up again. "Don't worry, I can ride my Warp Star anywhere and it will keep us both safe. Uhh, you don't have to ride it if you don't want to though…"

Ribbon fluttered over to the Warp Star and looked at it more closely seeing little sparkles shimmering on its surface. It was certainly beautiful but how could it be safe? She had only just met Kirby as well and yet he was offering her a ride on this?

But… she had ridden the Great Crystal through space in far more dangerous circumstances, hadn't she? Falling off wouldn't have been the exact issue; the sudden exposure to the vacuum of space would _definitely_ have been the issue and while she wasn't sure just how well fairies coped in space without such protection, she sure didn't want to find out. Besides, if she fell off here, at least she had wings. Maybe she was feeling reckless.

"No, I still want to ride it." And Ribbon was rewarded with a wide smile.

"OK. Just hop on and hold onto me."

Kirby jumped onto his Warp Star and shuffled to the front. Feeling a little self-conscious about the situation, Ribbon climbed on behind Kirby and held him cautiously. He felt as soft as she expected him to be. Once both were comfortable, the Warp Star then took off at a great speed.

Ribbon couldn't help but gasp and hold Kirby more tightly, the distraction of which caused the Warp Star to wobble for a split-second before Kirby got back on track. Looking downwards caused the grass land to melt into one green blur so Ribbon looked straight ahead and almost immediately saw Cappy Town and Castle Dedede come into view. She also realised that despite the speed they were travelling at, she could not feel any rush of wind go by; the Warp Star must have been able to create a protective bubble around its riders to prevent that wind and let them travel at whatever vast speeds they wished.

Kirby parked the Warp Star mid-air and looked down at the citizens below. It would have been quite amusing if any of them thought to look up right now.

"Looks like some of the Waddle Dees have a day off today," he said absent-mindedly. Indeed, a few were hanging around the coffee shop sipping iced lattes and reading a few of the latest comics.

"That was so fast," Ribbon breathed, feeling her heart pound wildly. And yet it wasn't with fear but rather… excitement.

Kirby nodded. "I could go around a planet on the Warp Star," he said.

Ribbon cast a gaze down below; nobody had seen them. "Kirby? Um… do you think… do you think you could take this a little further, please?"

Kirby's eyes lit up. "Sure! I'll show you a bit more of Dream Land."

The Warp Star moved once more and accelerated past Dedede's castle. Kirby first guided the Warp Star over the green fields at a slower speed so Ribbon had the chance to see all kinds of rich flora growing everywhere including Cappy Town's famed sheep farms, watermelon fields and Maxim Tomato crops, the latter of which were now considered a special delicacy across the whole of Popstar. He then showed Ribbon the vast extent of Whispy Woods which was also the name of its guardian and was brimming with extraordinary plant life. They then soared past towering cliffs and into Celestial Valley where many pristine waterfalls constantly flowed and rapids gushed in the rivers below. Next came Cloudy Park where in the light, breezy part of the permanent formation, one could touch the soft, bubbly clouds and Kirby lowered the Warp Star to let Ribbon do just that. Once they travelled past the high mountains, Kirby directed them to the Orange Ocean which Cappy Town bordered. He let the Warp Star hover just above its smooth waters.

"It's called the Orange Ocean because of the orange glow you see when the sun's setting," Kirby explained.

"Dream Land's such a beautiful place," said Ribbon in awe. All they could hear were the waves splashing against the shore. Here she could quite easily find peace and quiet. "Is the rest of Popstar like this?"

"Yeah," Kirby smiled. "It's really awesome."

"How are you controlling this by the way?"

"Just by thinking. I can even do it with my eyes shut. I'll show you on the way back to Cappy Town."

Ribbon was about to protest but Kirby had directed them safely so far and somehow, she felt that the young Star Warrior could be deeply trusted. The Warp Star moved steadily upwards at a slow pace avoiding the cliffs before moving forwards. Ribbon tried looking at Kirby's face and sure enough his eyes were closed and he wore a little smile.

Kirby brought the Warp Star to a stop outside of a grand house on the edge of town and once both were off, he sent it back to its usual place deep within Kabu Valley. An old Cappy who had been dozing off in a rocking chair, enjoying the glorious summer day, then woke up and saw the duo.

"Oh, good morning, Kirby," he said as if this was an everyday thing. "Who's your new friend?"

"Hi, Mayor Len. This is Ribbon; she's visiting us from another planet." At this, Mayor Len suddenly scrambled upright from his seat and adjusted his top hat.

"Oh! Well, in that case, as mayor, I officially welcome you to Cappy Town and Dream Land and I hope you have a pleasant stay here."

"Thank you, Mayor," Ribbon replied, somewhat amused.

In his capacity as mayor, the old Cappy was obliged to make some quick recommendations of the town and was quite pleased to announce the pleasant attractions they had recently acquired. Once he had exhausted this line of conversation out of politeness, he then asked, "By the way, Kirby, have the GSA made any plans location-wise yet?"

Kirby hesitated. "No, sir, the HQ's staying where it is for now."

"Very well," Mayor Len sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped. Take care in town, children." The old Cappy waved them off warmly but headed inside straight after. Kirby frowned.

"I wish he wouldn't ask me that every time I come into town."

"What do you mean?" Ribbon questioned.

"Some of the townspeople aren't happy with having the GSA close by even though they were fine with it before and think we should have some kind of space station instead," Kirby sighed. "That would be fine I guess considering we have people from different planets and you could say it'd be neutral but that isn't an issue because we're meant to protect the whole galaxy. At the moment though, we don't have enough people to bother being in space and it would be too expensive and who wants to live in space most of the time? We're better on the ground; that's where most of our fighting takes place anyway."

"Do they not like the GSA then?" Ribbon asked. "They seemed nice enough to me."

Kirby shook his head. "It's not even that. They think having the GSA close by will make Cappy Town and by extension Dream Land a target for demonbeasts."

"Really?"

Kirby looked uncomfortable. "That kinda stuff has been said to me before."

Ribbon wasn't sure how to respond to that or if she should respond at all. Kirby, however, shrugged and gave a grin. "I'll show you about town and ask if anyone's seen any Crystal Shards."

The town wasn't especially large although some extra facilities had been added since the GSA's arrival and growth including a library, gym and even a cinema which the Galaxy Soldiers often liked visiting. It was a pleasant place overall and it reminded the fairy of her home town (even though she tried not to think about it too much under the current circumstances). The people greeted Kirby and Ribbon warmly and the pink puffball engaged in good conversation with many of them before asking had they seen any specific shards of a crystalline nature. Happily, they managed to have success with Professor Curio who had found a shard the previous day and believed it to be a rare relic which he had consequently categorised amongst his many antique collections. At least nothing out of the ordinary had happened to him this time either.

Unfortunately though, this was their only success as every other answer had come back negative or pointed back to Curio and occasionally people asked the same question Mayor Len had asked to which Kirby responded with the same answer. At least Chef Kawasaki had been apologetic for his lack of information and he certainly had no issue with the GSA being so close – he made good business with them after all and it had by now become a rite of passage for new GSA members to sample an entire bowl of Kawasaki's special casserole to the last drop without making any kind of complaint once. The pair instead received free ice-creams (which was bought in and therefore had no taste issues) and strolled through the wide streets under the warm sun. Despite everything that had happened so far, Ribbon felt relaxed with the young Star Warrior putting her at ease and hoped that they could possibly have more days like this when nothing urgent was happening.

Kirby finished off his favourite strawberry shortcake ice-cream and said, "We better go find Dedede; maybe he'll—"

"M-M-M-MONSTERS!"

Kirby spun round to the source of the cry which was almost immediately followed by a lot of screaming. To Kirby's alarm, what appeared to be a black mass was heading straight through Cappy Town and he could tell that it was absolutely _teeming_ with monsters. It was impossible to tell how many there were while they clambered over each other in their haste to rush ahead. They screeched and chittered and stared with blank, soulless eyes. The aura they gave off was unseen by all but the trained Star Warrior and to Kirby it signalled that these creatures were not just simple monsters but in fact demonbeasts.

Kirby charged forwards.

"Kirby!" a horrified Ribbon yelped.

Kirby didn't answer; he was too focussed on what was ahead of him. He ran until he met the mass head-on which stopped in its tracks, regarding the crazy individual before it. Good, it looked like he had the mass's complete attention. He could now see that the mass was made up of three kinds of demonbeast: one was a giant type of fuzzy spider about Kirby's size, the next like the first but without legs and finally one that looked like a shadowy, corrupted version of an ordinary Waddle Dee, spouting pointy ears and no mouth.

The front row of demonbeasts suddenly attacked and Kirby was forced to dodge by inhaling air and floating upwards. Ribbon, who had caught up a little and had wisely taken refuge on a nearby roof, looked on with surprise. Each creature made an almost ear-piercing skittering sound as they targeted their foe and some even attempted to make themselves a tower to bring themselves high enough to knock their enemy out of the air but Kirby's buoyant body was always that little bit out of reach.

Knowing that he couldn't stay up for long, Kirby exhaled and dropped in a clear spot. As a spider lunged for him, Kirby took another deep breath and this time inhaled on the ground, drawing in huge amounts of air and swallowing the black spider whole.

Ribbon's eyes were wide and she clutched a chimney for support. _What… did I just see?!_

However, Kirby began to hack badly and he spat the spider back out gripping his stomach in pain.

"Nggh…" he moaned. His insides had immediately burnt upon inhaling the spider. _I've never had that before!_

The fiends took advantage of this distraction and smacked Kirby into the hard road. Kirby made to move but he was almost instantly pinned down by several of the creatures and he could feel the sharp hairs of the spider creatures painfully brushing past his skin. Still feeling his gut churning and temporarily caught in the swarm, Kirby was slapped about on all sides before he managed to break free with a sliding tackle and ran ahead of the dark monsters.

There was a series of cries from the Cappy and Waddle Dee bystanders as Kirby ran away with the screeching monsters chasing after him. Every now and then, Kirby stopped and saw the monsters still pursuing him. Ribbon quickly realised that Kirby was trying to lead the monsters out of town and she flew from roof to roof, following close by and holding tightly the one Crystal Shard they had obtained. The swarm almost covered the entire width of the street with the monsters crawling past traffic bollards and over abandoned shopping and café chairs. It looked like something out of a horror movie.

Kirby managed to make it to the main square, a large, empty space which had been immediately vacated following the alarm but the monsters picked up speed and they quickly surrounded their lone attacker and Kirby saw many beady eyes boring their way into him. His cheeks were flushed through exertion under the now-seemingly harsh sunlight shining in a perfectly cloudless sky, and his throat felt unusually prickly from inhaling that unknown enemy.

"Get inside everyone," Kirby ordered, still seeing people lingering here and there and just inside doorways with horrified fascination. As if brought to attention, the residents quickly scuttled inside the nearest shelters and then continued to peer through the windows, watching their resident Star Warrior do battle.

Ribbon remained on the roof and looked down fearfully; Kirby couldn't swallow the spiders and he hadn't attempted to do the same with the others and even if he could, it would be impossible to swallow them all. He needed a weapon.

The first wave of black monsters rose up against him like a stormy sea. Kirby avoided the heavy blow crashing into him, the co-ordinated attack actually making it easier to dodge, and looked about wildly for something. There! Someone appeared to have been fixing their fence and in their haste to flee the monsters, had left their tool kit behind. Kirby immediately dashed over once a clear opportunity arose with the skittering monsters following close behind. He pulled out the first tool to hand and swallowed it whole.

What happened next was something Ribbon could never have anticipated.

There was a flash of bright light and materialising out of nowhere was what appeared to be a yellow, winged cap with a curved blade on top now resting on Kirby's head. He pulled the wavy blade off and threw it like a boomerang against his foes. Those in the centre of the attack gave their death cries as black particles streamed from their bodies before dissipating in a puff of smoke. Kirby's eyes steeled with determination whilst he yelled a battle cry and slashed at the dark foes in close combat, sometimes taking out several in one go, the curved blade cutting through the mass like butter.

When Kirby was in his infancy, the transformation could take a few seconds but now it was near instantaneous, far better suited to the furious nature of combat. Indeed, Kirby was ferociously striking the shrieking monsters near and far, his boomerang blade flying straight into the black mass, keeping them from overwhelming him and always returning back into his hand. He almost effortlessly evaded the keening demonbeasts' blows, discovering that the swarm seemingly possessed no special abilities and were almost solely relying on huge numbers, and leapt above the crowd and slammed down again forcing a wave of energy to rush from his weapon and slice through more enemies. The cutter blade shone each time it struck home and when the demonbeast creatures tried to avoid the weapon's direct line of attack, Kirby retaliated by throwing the blade in an arc that swept up a handful of monsters in one go, slicing them half causing them to bloodlessly explode; a definite sign of a demonbeast.

Soon there were only a few monsters left and they quailed upon facing against their powerful foe. The Waddle Dee-like creatures hung back a little and took time to reassess the situation, wondering if they were out-matched. They had been numerous indeed but were weak individually and Kirby was thankful that they hadn't thought about attacking him at random times the whole battle otherwise it would have been far harder fighting them off. Perhaps they had a hive mind. In any case, these could only be low-level demonbeasts.

Kirby aimed his boomerang to take out the last of the monsters. They hadn't attacked anyone else thankfully and his advice had been instantly heeded; Cappy Town had been lucky today.

"AHHHH!"

Kirby was suddenly thrown forwards and his face scraped painfully against the pavement. The shock made his ability fly out of his system causing the hat and power to vanish. In its place was a small star bouncing about the square.

The pink puffball rolled onto his back and saw a giant version of the shadowy, Waddle Dee-like creature staring down at him. Which then delivered a powerful kick smashing Kirby into a nearby house.

"Kirby!" Ribbon cried.

Kirby gingerly picked himself up, ignoring the immediate throbbing pain. He saw both the giant monster and the remaining small creatures steam towards him, the former nearly cracking the ground with each stomp. He flung himself out of the way before the giant could bodily slam into him, not to mention the smaller demonbeasts harrying him from all sides. It careered straight into a brick wall, shaking the entire building and Kirby heard things inside smashing as they fell. He winced; there was going to be trouble over that.

The spider creatures tried cornering the pink puffball while the other monsters could prepare their own attack but Kirby quickly leapt over them, bouncing off one legless enemy in the process, feeling its hairs stick into him, and desperately tried to reach the small star which was now flickering oddly as if it would soon wink out of existence.

Ribbon tried thinking quickly. Maybe it would help Kirby if he had another one of those… powers? Whatever it was. She flew down to the tool kit Kirby had rummaged through earlier while the monsters were occupied. She had no idea what would help but if Kirby could derive power from a mundane object then maybe the first thing she pulled out would do.

She flew up ensuring she was well out of harm's way and shouted to Kirby, "Here!"

Kirby saw the object falling towards him – a screwdriver by the looks of things – and immediately began inhaling, causing the wind to whip up around him and the demonbeasts to stop in their tracks at the sudden force, instinct telling them not to get caught in its path. The screwdriver went straight into Kirby's mouth but he also swallowed the small star at the same time.

Kirby gasped as he felt the same sudden surge of power he had briefly experienced during his combo training sessions. Another hat appeared very similar to the one he had worn before only this time it had a couple of little spikes protruding from the top alongside the blade as well as the cap's rim. Without stopping to think, Kirby grabbed the blade and threw it at the monster. To his surprise, the boomerang became dramatically larger and was covered with spikes. It sliced straight through the giant monster and the remaining little enemies, ripping up the pavement on the way.

The smaller monsters exploded and Kirby threw his spiky boomerang a second time, again cutting a path straight through the giant, dark demonbeast with shadowy particles spewing out of its body. Just as the blade shrank and returned to Kirby's hand, the giant monster let out one final, ear-splitting scream and exploded in a burst of dark light, leaving not a trace of itself behind. The dark aura hanging over the area also disappeared.

"Well, Kirby's destroyed another set of monsters," a Cappy said as if this was quite the normal thing once everyone began coming out of hiding.

"He's also destroyed the square a fair bit," someone else muttered, "not to mention the damage done to my house!"

Panting heavily, Kirby made his ability vanish and flopped to the ground.

Ribbon flew over to Kirby and for a brief moment felt a glimpse of power that was now beginning to fade. At first, she wasn't sure what to think or feel confronted with such a display; she had never heard of such a power before. Should she be scared of it looking at how effectively Kirby had torn through those dark monsters or be in awe of it for the exact same reason? She felt like she suddenly had a million questions to ask him but as people began gathering round, she knew she had to wait and so helped Kirby onto his feet.

"Hey, Kirby, are you OK?" Even as she asked, Ribbon noticed the red scratches over various parts of his body.

"Just… a bit tired," he breathed heavily. "That last move took… a lot outta me. I've… I've never used it before."

"Oh, dear," a Cappy opined. Her bracelets jangled as she moved about. "What monsters were those, Kirby?"

"I dunno, Mabel." Kirby tried to think; they were definitely some kind of demonbeasts judging by the way they acted and the fact they exploded with no blood and left nothing behind upon defeat. "They came outta nowhere…"

"I swear we're getting more monsters ever since your GSA moved in," one of the Cappies sighed.

Kirby's eyes narrowed as he regarded the Cappy before him wearing a shop apron. Others mumbled the same thing while others yet drew attention to the damage Kirby had caused during the fight and not for the first time either. His throat and stomach were still sore from the creature he tried swallowing earlier and he wasn't in the mood for arguing either. Besides, he wanted to give a good impression of himself to Ribbon considering how she was a guest of the GSA and all that.

"Sorry about the damage," he mumbled. "I would have got them out of town if I could. I'll get the GSA on to it. Uhh, did anyone call them while I was busy?"

The Cappies debated amongst themselves as to whose responsibility that was. Kirby couldn't help but roll his eyes; no wonder he had never received any backup during that battle. What was the point in having a phone if nobody used it?

"Kirby, are you alright?"

Ribbon jumped a little when she saw the masked warrior Meta Knight drop in out of seemingly nowhere and she wasn't the only one either. Kirby, however, seemed entirely unsurprised.

"I apologise for my tardiness; I had certain important business to attend to," Meta Knight explained. One of the Cappies appeared outraged by this apparent lack of consideration.

"What kinda business is more impor—?" Meta Knight held up a hand and the Cappy stopped as if suddenly being choked.

"I'm OK-ish," Kirby replied as if there had been no interruption and ignoring the small aches he still felt, "but I couldn't copy the spider things; they hurt me."

"What about the others?"

"I didn't try with them; I just used my Copy Ability. I, uh, managed to combine Cutter and Cutter as well," he added with a small hint of pride. Kirby then gave Meta Knight as many details as possible about the battle causing the older Star Warrior's yellow eyes to glow green.

"Hmm, well done, Kirby. I knew you would be able to achieve such a combination sooner rather than later. Now then, the spider creatures sound like Mariel; I have encountered them before. The legless variants are known as Bo and that is essentially the only difference. The other one I am unsure of; we'll give them the N-Z classification for the time being. I'm afraid to say though that from your description, we are dealing with beings created by the Dark Matter race."

Ribbon froze.

The Cappies had been trying to listen in to the conversation in case the information concerned them in any way. "Dark Matter?" a Cappy named Gus said. "Ain't that that dark ball thingy that came invading Dream Land or something? Is it back?"

"It might well be but be rest assured that Cappy Town is not a target of that foe," Meta Knight answered though his tone made it clear that he wouldn't be giving them any more information than that. He swept an arm over the evidence of the recently-fought battle. "We'll arrange to have all this fixed as soon as possible as per the agreement." He then faced Kirby. "We better go and see King Dedede immediately. If manifestations of Dark Matter or even Zero are here, then you know what might happen to him again."

Kirby instantly understood.

"Let's go then. Uh, Ribbon, I don't know what you want to do. Maybe go back to the headquarters?"

Ribbon shook her head; if Dark Matter was involved, then perhaps the Crystal Shards would be too, and it was her responsibility to at least look after the latter regardless of trust. "I'm coming as well."

Neither warrior had time to dissuade the fairy and so they dashed up the hill leading to Dedede's castle with Ribbon managing to stay close behind, wings flapping fast. Soon the group was out of sight and there was nothing but the breeze to cut the silence.

The Cappies looked at each other and the state that the centre of Cappy Town had been left in.

Mabel sighed. "One of us have better get a brush."


	4. Hosts

**I really wish we had a new Kirby anime. I loved the original and it's given me a whole lot of inspiration but it was so long ago. I'd especially love to see Haltmann get the anime treatment but also build more upon the GSA; there's so much that could be done with that. We need Shinya Kinishima on it. Oh, well. Thanks for the reviews so far and enjoy. :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 4:** **Hosts**

A lone Waddle Dee wandered about the countryside and groaned. The things that his liege made the Waddle Dees do could be pretty tasking and he liked to have his demands met immediately if not sooner. On the other hand, they had permanent board and food for which they were eternally grateful for and as long as they completed their tasks on time and properly as any employer would expect, the king wasn't too bothered about what they got up to. Really, the king had mellowed somewhat in recent years and he was even performing proper administrative duties in the whole of Dream Land nowadays even if one of the main reasons was to generally improve his standing amongst other royals on Popstar. So while traipsing around the outlying fields looking for lost golf balls was a bit of a pain, especially on a warm day like this, the Waddle Dee couldn't complain too much. Getting away from the other Waddle Dees for a while was even a bonus in some ways, particularly as the only reason he stood out was due to his blue bandana.

The Waddle Dee threw another golf ball into the basket. There must have only been a couple more to go now. It was possible he could even knock off early and go into town for an ice-cream and, if he was feeling especially indulgent, have extra sprinkles on top as well.

The Waddle Dee walked a little further when he noticed something glinting in the sun. Intrigued, he went to see what it was and discovered to his surprise that it was some kind of shard.

Unable to believe his good luck, the Waddle Dee picked up the crystal. How big it was! It would surely sell for a pretty penny. He turned it this way and that and admired how it caught the sun's rays. He had better keep it safe from the other Dees and perhaps more importantly, King Dedede – he hadn't lost his lustre for treasure over the years so it was best not to flaunt anything sparkly about before his gaze.

He didn't notice that he was being watched as he went about his business. The Waddle Dee didn't pay attention to his surroundings for he was much too merry; who wouldn't be after this find? And besides, who'd be out here on the king's private golf course apart from another Dee or a wayward tourist?

The Waddle Dee meant to continue his work when he noticed a curious shadow on the ground. Strange, that wasn't his own, was it? Nor did it appear connected to anything…

The shadow revealed a single eye, leapt up, and engulfed the Waddle Dee whole.

* * *

"Who goes there?" Captain Waddle Doo cried out. "Oh! Sir Meta Knight and Sir Kirby!"

The Waddle Doo saluted as the two puffballs approached accompanied by a pink-haired figure he had never seen before.

"Greetings, Captain," said Meta Knight, inclining his head in return. "This is Ribbon and she is a guest in Dream Land and of the GSA."

"Well then, welcome to Castle Dedede. I hope you'll enjoy your time here," he said, words that would have been received more warmly had Cappy Town not just been invaded less than ten minutes ago and if they had come from someone who didn't have just one, large eye; an uncomfortable reminder of Dark Matter.

"By the way, you wouldn't happen to know what King Dedede is up to right now, would you?" Meta Knight enquired. "He has not changed in any discernible way, has he?"

Captain Waddle Doo frowned. "I think he was having a day off from ruling today or something like that; he's probably in his chambers or on the balcony. Er, he seemed fine this morning if that's what you're wondering. He ordered a triple-decker sandwich earlier if that helps."

"Perhaps so. Thank you, Captain; I'll leave you to your business."

Captain Waddle Doo pulled off a razor-sharp salute. "Sirs!"

He waved the trio over the drawbridge which was almost always down in any case except in times of emergency as according to tradition (though truthfully, it was more down to Dedede finding it too much of a hassle to have to wait for it to be lowered when he wanted to go out). Ribbon looked round the courtyard and well-kept gardens currently being attended to by a couple of Waddle Dees. She then gazed up at the towering sandstone walls and she would later see the plush décor inside as per the king's tastes. It was probably just as well she didn't know what kind of chaos had taken place inside these walls.

Meanwhile, Kirby scratched himself with embarrassment. "I'll never get used to being called a sir," he mumbled, abashed.

"You'll have plenty of centuries to get used to that," Meta Knight spoke, "and in my eyes, you have more than earned that title." At that, Kirby's cheeks turned red and he pretended to be distracted by something.

"Oh, er, should I have been calling you sir all this time?" Ribbon asked nervously, thinking it peculiar that this young boy could be referred to as such. Then again, if it was because of that strange power of his…

"N-no," Kirby stammered. "Kirby's just fine."

From his side, Meta Knight chuckled and his eyes turned blue. "Kirby does have the right of it due to his status as a Star Warrior but prefers not to most of the time even at the GSA where certain individuals should still use it out of respect. As it is, you may also refer to me just as Meta Knight. I do not require a title all the time."

"Oh, OK. Um, thank you," Ribbon said. "So… are you both Star Warriors then?"

Meta Knight nodded. "Indeed. Sir Arthur mentioned that Star Warriors are the elite force in the GSA but there is more to it than that with Star Warriors possessing certain strengths and skills that enable us to vanquish the enemy beyond that of Galaxy Soldiers. Skills such as Kirby's Copy Ability for example."

"The Copy Ability?"

"You saw it earlier," the pink puffball, the young Star Warrior said.

As they walked through the castle populated by numerous friendly Waddle Dees, Ribbon thought to herself that when the Great Crystal broke, she ought really to have been killed or left to drift endlessly in space. She could have landed on any other planet. She could have landed somewhere in the wastelands of this planet far away from civilisation and wandering alone, without help, without hope. Instead, she had literally crash-landed on top of Kirby, a young Star Warrior with a unique power and who was part of a group of warriors who swore an oath to protect the galaxy, the only people who could possibly help her. Of all the odds…

The Great Crystal must have guided her right after all.

"It appears that King Dedede is fine but I still want to check if anything suspicious has happened. Kirby, if you would, I would appreciate it if you speak with Tiff and Tuff about this now should they be in the castle while I'll make my own enquiries and take Ribbon to see his majesty. There will be no need to rush. You know what the king is like after all."

Kirby nodded and vaguely saying that he didn't know how long he would be, he dashed off eager to see his old friends once again.

Meta Knight went up the staircase with his cape draped around him as usual, something that Ribbon later found out he did practically all the time. He exuded an aura of calm it seemed, and when they had held the meeting the other day, it was clear even to the newcomer that the old Star Warrior was one who commanded respect from his colleagues, and someone perhaps to be greatly admired.

Once they reached the top, Meta Knight checked to see if there was anyone else around and, once satisfied that there wasn't, spoke to the fairy quietly.

"I would be grateful, Ribbon, if you could perhaps tell me how Kirby seems to you."

Ribbon could not help but be justly surprised by this sudden question. "I'm not sure if I can answer it all that well," the fairy said. "I'm sure you know Kirby better than me."

"An outside opinion can be helpful indeed."

Ribbon struggled over what to say; the old Star Warrior clearly had a special interest in Kirby though for what reasons she could not know. "He's very friendly," she finally said, the most obvious thing to remark about the pink puffball. "And he's been very kind to me." She briefly hesitated. "I don't know if everything is OK in Cappy Town though, if anything's happened before now, like something to do with Kirby and not everyone's happy about it. Something about being a target for demonbeasts." As soon as she said it, she felt as if she implicitly broke Kirby's trust and winced yet she felt she couldn't hold much back from this warrior. She hoped the information wouldn't be passed on.

Meta Knight, however, appeared quite unperturbed. He paused in his thoughts. "He has friends here whom he hasn't had the chance to spend time with for much too long; familial attachments to be more accurate. Our duties tend to separate us from the rest of civilisation on many occasions and while the veterans amongst us began our duties long after childhood, Kirby has not had that same advantage. He needs as many friends as he can get."

The fairy felt the weight of his words and nodded in apparent understanding for it was the only response she could make.

"Now, let us see if my knights know anything of importance that may help us out."

Ribbon hurried after Meta Knight down the long hallway and wondered as to the lack of explanation of his words. There was something more to this she supposed and while she did not know what aid she could possibly offer, she consoled herself in the meantime and thanked the stars that she had found good people to help her far away from Ripple Star and on the brightest planet in the galaxy.

* * *

A shadow crossed the land directing its host's footsteps. It sensed the presence of two earthbound stars within the boundaries of the kingdom. It did not have the power to overtake these as it did with this puny host – not while it had been greatly weakened by that infernal gem – but it could at least try to wear either of them down, especially the younger one, while it was so close in the vicinity. The Master desired this. It sensed also the presence of its equally shadowy comrades who also had the same goal in mind. They lived to exact the Master's wishes in any way possible; everything else paled in insignificance.

Their orders directed them to a castle.

* * *

"If you don't stay still, how do you expect me to paint you?"

"I thought you were supposed to be super speedy at this, girly!"

"You don't want me to do a bad picture of you by rushing, do you? Nor do I want to accidentally bring this painting alive. One of you is enough."

"Hey, you can't talk to me like that; I'm king round here!"

Meta Knight and Ribbon walked into the king's quarters to see a certain monarch trying to pose with a fruit bowl and a young girl wearing a red beret sticking her tongue out in concentration.

"Greetings, Adeleine, King Dedede."

"Oh, hi, Sir Meta Knight," Adeleine responded, wiping excess paint off her brush. "I haven't seen you for a while. You on another mission?"

"Hey, am I regulated to second place now?" the blue figure of considerable size grumbled. "An' who's the pink one?"

Meta Knight introduced them to each other and thankfully King Dedede was gratified, the latter knowing that he could show off his importance in this situation. Ribbon greeted King Dedede politely as was her wont but she couldn't help but think how… overbearing he was. This was a completely normal reaction.

"I guess you ain't payin' a social call an' decidin' to come back into my service full-time, eh?" Dedede said as he stood up from the sofa. "Shame really. I almost got fond of you."

"I told you earlier not to move!" Adeleine hissed.

"To cut to the chase, sire, have you seen any unusual crystalline shards? Have you…" Meta Knight hesitated slightly remembering that both had previously been affected by the events of the last incident. "Have you seen any signs of Zero or Dark Matter at all?" His question was followed by a paint box suddenly clattering onto the carpet.

Dedede rolled his eyes at the mess and folded his arms. "Sure ain't. I thought Kirby clobbered that there Dark Matter anyway."

 _Kirby's fought these things before,_ Ribbon realised. She felt another blossom of hope and an evermore rising respect for the young Star Warrior.

"I do not believe the central entity can be wholly destroyed, only stalled and weakened, though its offshoots can indeed be destroyed. I have not personally seen Dark Matter around but I urge you both to keep a strong lookout."

"S-Sir Meta Knight," the young artist quavered. "Do you mean a shard like… this?"

Adeleine pulled out a clear blue shard from her apron's pockets. "I found it earlier today when I was painting some landscapes. Is it dangerous?"

Meta Knight was about to answer when he noticed the room suddenly grow darker as if the sun was being swallowed up by an eclipse. Feeling an oppressive atmosphere descend upon them all, Meta Knight unsheathed his famed blade Galaxia. Once released from its impossibly short scabbard, golden light phased into existence creating a sword with extra, jagged points running on either side. Unwieldy-looking to most perhaps, but in the hands of an extremely experienced swordsman and one intimately connected to the weapon, it was more than just a sword.

Adeleine stepped back and dropped the Crystal Shard on the floor, wanting nothing more to do with it, and stayed near her canvas. She screamed when the canvas began to shake without warning and before their very presence, a member of Dark Matter emerged, blinking its single red eye.

Before Meta Knight could make a single move, Dark Matter launched itself straight at Adeleine and enveloped her in darkness.

* * *

"Thanks, Lady Like," Kirby grinned as she brought out another plate of biscuits baked with more enthusiasm than skill. Nevertheless, he eagerly scarfed the snacks down and ensured that not a single crumb was wasted. His stomach had settled down now and in familiar, comfortable surroundings, he felt relaxed. More so than he had in recent times in fact.

Lady Like beamed. "Oh, it is my pleasure, Kirby. You really should drop by more often; we miss having you around here."

"Mom," said Tiff, "Kirby doesn't get the same amount of time anymore and he won't do now with this new problem."

"Might as well invite the rest of the GSA over in the meantime," Tuff added. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind visiting." He pinched a lemon biscuit before instantly regretting it and its taste.

So much had changed in recent years. In previous times, Kirby was able to beat a monster in one day and then just play games in the next; hell, the next hour even. When Nightmare had been destroyed and Dedede could no longer order demonbeasts from his catalogues, consequently finally becoming more mature in the process, Kirby had seemingly endless leisure time in that brief, golden period, playing with his friends, Tiff, Tuff and the others, and just enjoying life as a child. It couldn't last.

The problem with having a considerable age gap to begin with, at least mentally speaking, was that they were inevitably going to drift onto different paths and have different life goals, especially Kirby whose path had inevitably already been decided for him without his consultation. Tiff and Tuff would have to take some responsibility in the workings of Dream Land and turn their minds to mundane, adult things and Kirby, without any close friends his age, had to give up playing games with the others earlier than anyone would have wished.

Even if that wasn't the case, the end of Nightmare hadn't meant the end of demonbeasts or the reign of evil. Far from it. With his tremendous potential and skillset, it was impossible that Kirby would ever stop being a Star Warrior. The dark fiends that invaded the whole of Popstar from time to time only proved that Kirby would forever be needed for his powers. It was his responsibility; it was his destiny.

Forced to mature fast and always developing his powers under his mentor's guidance, Kirby would always be there to beat back evil no matter how many times it rose up. Nevertheless, Kirby did try to retain some kind of normal life by visiting those whom he considered to be his family and putting aside time for leisure, even though he hadn't quite been able to pay a social call lately. Despite the intense pressure that came with being a heroic Star Warrior though, he was able to shoulder the burden well. Most of the time.

"You're being overworked, Kirby," said Tiff, voice full of concern. "You keep on yawning."

"I'm not," the pink puffball mumbled just as he stifled yet another yawn. "I just didn't sleep well last night."

"Can't you at least get someone to cover your duties for a while? Maybe you should talk to Meta Knight about it."

"It's not as easy as that," Kirby replied, "and Meta Knight's busy enough as it is."

"But—"

"Leave it, Tiff," said Tuff. Even as an adult, his hair still covered his eyes despite Lady Like's endless nagging. "You're starting to sound like Mom."

"So? I'm just trying to look out for Kirby. It's not as if we see you a lot anymore," Tiff added in Kirby's direction. The first thing Tiff had done when Kirby entered their quarters was, apart from a close hug, demand that he at least use some medicinal cream on the scratches he had picked up from his most recent battle, which apparently had become quite itchy since Kirby had constantly rubbed them during their conversation. She supposed she ought to have been used to seeing Kirby hurt in some way by now; she had seen him in much worse states before now and Kirby seemed to be rather accepting of it all, but it never got any easier.

"I guess you'll have your hands full finding these Crystal Stars then," Sir Ebrum piped up in a timely fashion, seeing Kirby looking somewhat embarrassed in a very similar manner as his children had done when they were adolescents. Thinking about it, Kirby was around that age now and Sir Ebrum was only glad that they hadn't needed to pick up a surely increased food bill for Kirby after all seeing that he would probably be even hungrier than normal at his age, that being the responsibility of the Galaxy Solider Army.

"Crystal Shards, Dad," Tiff and Tuff reminded him.

"I'll have help; it's not as if it's just me doing all this," Kirby assured them all. "And anyway, I want to help out Ribbon."

"Don't worry, Kirby, we all know you'll help out anybody, no problem," said Tuff.

"If we find anything out, we'll let you know," Tiff added.

Kirby smiled. Maybe they could use their newly-forged connections in the other kingdoms; Tiff had already promised that they would immediately pass on to the GSA any Crystal Shards they happened to receive from foreign correspondence. It was certainly better than nothing. "Thanks everyone, that's great."

For a while, they talked of normal things, something which Kirby appreciated even though he found himself distracted with thoughts drifting towards Ribbon. _Maybe I should show Ribbon Cookie Country; I'm sure she'd like that. Maybe the Rainbow Islands? And maybe we—_

There was suddenly a loud banging on the door followed by a voice crying, "Is Sir Kirby in here? We need his help!"

Sir Ebrum opened the door to reveal a very distressed Captain Waddle Doo.

"It's awful!" he wailed, waving his little sword and almost catching Sir Ebrum. "One of my Waddle Dees has just returned and... and something awful has happened and he's attacking the others! There are some other monsters about I've never seen before either and my poor Waddle Dees are still down there. They should still be on the drawbridge; we can't let them into the castle!"

 _There's more?_ Kirby groaned inwardly.

Nevertheless, without hesitation, Kirby leapt to action despite the cries of the others and, not bothering to take the stairs, jumped out of the open window and puffed himself up before reaching the ground. He ran across the courtyard and saw a number of trembling Waddle Dees attempting to point their spears at something. A moment later, an unseen force scattered them far apart, many even being blasted over the ramparts, leaving a clear path between Kirby and his foe. He gave a cry of shock.

"B-Bandana Dee?" he stuttered.

In his time in Dream Land and forever visiting the castle, Kirby had come to know a lot of people including the Waddle Dee army, helped by the fact they had now picked up the local language so that Captain Waddle Doo didn't need to translate all the time (although they were still rather quiet on the whole). Kirby had become particular friends with a Waddle Dee whose penchant for wearing a blue bandana made him highly recognisable. It was that bandana that told Kirby his friend had been transformed into something terrible. His friend had been possessed.

It could only be Dark Matter.

Kirby was forced to dodge a wave of enemies sent his direction by the possessed Bandana Dee attempting to crush him just like those in his earlier battle. They rampaged about the courtyard, casually destroying the carefully-pruned hedges and flower beds in the manner of a tornado storming the area. Attempting then some organisation, the swarm split into two groups and closed in on Kirby in a pincer movement. Kirby jumped on top of a low wall and kicked down one or two that tried climbing after him. From the corner of his eye, the young Star Warrior then noticed a loose pebble on the ground and immediately inhaled it to become Stone Kirby; now he could transform his body into rock at will making him almost completely invulnerable to attack at the cost of movement. This was fortunate since the monsters charged towards the pink puffball again to which Kirby responded by running into the swarm and activating his Copy Ability just before contact was made, enabling him to destroy several monsters simultaneously. From the edge of the battlefield by the various entrances, the Waddle Dees cowered, unnerved by seeing enemies not too dissimilar to themselves.

More Mariel, Bo and N-Z appeared out of nowhere. Kirby took to the air and once at a suitable height, plummeted down to the earth in stone form, smashing the ground beneath and squashing several monsters in one go. The Waddle Dees gave a ragged cheer for each successive defeat with Kirby pounding his foes using Stone Uppercut and occasionally defending himself in the form of a block, getting closer to his main opponent each time. However, the number of monsters never seemed to shrink, as if they were being automatically generated somehow, no matter how many the young Star Warrior killed.

Kirby finally managed to give himself some breathing space before he was pounced upon by the possessed Bandana Dee. Red eyes glowed like that of a demonbeast and Kirby felt the shadowy aura emanating from his friend.

"Bandana!" he gasped, trying to wrestle his friend off without seriously hurting him. "Snap out of it!" Even as he said the words though, Kirby knew that the only solution would be to essentially beat Dark Matter out of him. He remembered all too well the last time he had been forced to carry out these actions against friends.

Bandana Dee attacked Kirby again only to bounce off solid rock. This was repeated several times and Kirby could only hope that his friend would become exhausted from the ordeal and hence be freed before the young Star Warrior was forced to move from his defensive position and retaliate.

— **Kirby!—**

Cold fear raced through the young Star Warrior. The sound had come from Bandana Dee but it wasn't his voice. It was one he had heard before, fought before; a voice of darkness and evil.

— **We meet again,** **young** **Star Warrior.—**

Kirby realised the Mariel, Bo and N-Z had surrounded him. No matter what was happening, an accomplished warrior needed to be aware of their environment at all times.

"I beat you once, I can beat you again!" Kirby declared, ignoring the monsters behind him. The possessed Waddle Dee gave a laugh akin to crackling static.

— **How coincidental that the Ripple Star fairy should land here and meet** _ **you.**_ **Master Zero is very interested in seeing you again and he will exact what is due. You will meet Master Zero again. Fate demands it.—**

Kirby blanched at those words. _So Zero is back!_

"Kirby!"

Two voices called out for the young Star Warrior and they belonged to Sword Knight and Blade Knight, both charging down the gardens brandishing their weapons.

"We'll help you," Sword announced. "Not as if you're getting it from anywhere else, huh?"

"S'alright, we were bored anyways," Blade added.

Sword and Blade yelled and made began to make short work of the shadowy creatures leaving Kirby able to concentrate on freeing his friend without fear of the demonbeasts multiplying unchecked. Fortunately, the process was easier than expected and though Kirby hated himself for smacking Bandana Dee about, for causing him pain, it was over in a matter of minutes – it seemed that a Waddle Dee could not serve as a host for Dark Matter for long. A dazed Bandana Dee lay on the leaf-strewn ground and the monsters had been vanquished by the castle's knights. Before Kirby could approach though, a black miasma erupted from the Waddle Dee and soared into the air out of sight. Coughing, Bandana Dee breathed easier again. Shining in the light, a Crystal Shard lay at his side.

"Guess it's like as Sir Meta Knight said," Blade muttered, staring into the sky alongside his fellow knight. "So much my travel plans."

"Bandana, are you OK?"

Kirby raced over, not noticing that his adoptive family and Captain Waddle Doo had been watching from the sidelines for some time. His foot kicked against the light-blue shard making it shimmer. Bandana Dee and to Kirby's relief, they were his usual brown.

"Owwwwww…" he moaned. "I was only finding golf balls for his majesty and some shadowy thing attacked me out of the blue. You… you got rid of it, right, Kirby?"

The pink puffball nodded solemnly. "From you, yeah. I guess you just found this shard at the same time as well." He felt riddled with guilt. "Sorry I had to fight you, Bandana."

Bandana Dee sat up. "Oh, don't worry about it. It could have been worse. I suppose that shard's dangerous though and—oh. Probably not too dangerous then," he amended as Kirby swallowed the shard, keeping it out of harm's way.

 _Maybe Dark Matter is after the Crystal Shards,_ he thought. _Maybe they want to destroy them wholly. One shard must be too weak to hold them off though. I hope we can get them together before it's too late…_ "Huh?" Kirby said as he realised Tiff was talking to him.

"If Zero knows you're here, Kirby," she said quietly, "you need to be on your guard. He'll want revenge against you."

"I know." Kirby rubbed his eyes. "Meta Knight's already—ah! Meta!"

Everyone stared at the young Star Warrior in confusion as he looked this way and that. Captain Waddle Doo in the meantime had gathered his troops together and was vigorously fussing over Bandana Dee despite the latter's assurances he was fine. "Sword, Blade," Kirby spoke. "I don't know if there might be more monsters so could you please stay out here for a while and protect the castle borders?" He couldn't quite hide his embarrassment as the two saluted and affirmed his request. "Uhh, Bandana, sorry I had to take the shard; it's important. Sorry about before. I, uhh, need to see Meta Knight."

Not for the first time, Kirby left his friends and comrades behind with little explanation and hoped they would not follow. He briefly noted that this was the kind of thing that Meta Knight would do. In recent years, he now knew why.

Kirby's heart pounded with fear as he raced up the staircase. Somehow, he knew that Meta Knight and Ribbon were in danger and while he knew that his mentor was perfectly able to protect himself, Ribbon could not and he desperately felt the need to protect her. Besides, Meta Knight would likely appreciate the assistance. Thus, from one battle to another, Kirby soon heard the sound of conflict coming from Dedede's private chambers. What a day this was turning out to be.

Still wielding his Stone Ability, Kirby barged through the double doors and saw the commotion unfold before him.


	5. Comrades and Companions

**This was a fun one to write though a good chunk was added during the editing process, specifically the part with Kirby and Ribbon, to help with character development and relationships. It makes me feel good. ^^**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Comrades and Companions**

A terrible smile plastered the face of the young artist and like Bandana Dee, a dark aura flared around her. The darkness formed a thin barrier around her, protecting the girl from immediate harm. Ribbon could only watch with horror as Adeleine floated upwards like a puppet tugged upon its strings and, with the canvas also floating beside her, she painted at a demonic speed. Ribbon yelped and fluttered backwards when the painting's subjects emerged and landed on the carpet. They were _alive._

Meta Knight looked distinctly unimpressed however. With his gleaming sword, he almost seemed to teleport forwards and before Ribbon knew it, he had sliced the demonbeasts, merely enlarged N-Z, into two.

Adeleine gave a harsh laugh that Ribbon would never have expected to hear from the girl and hoped never to hear again. Clearly she, or rather the occupying Dark Matter, had expected that. With nothing more than paint and a brush, she unleashed a greater collection of monsters consisting of Mariel, Bo and Bronto Burts respectively. Ribbon pressed herself against the wall while the demonbeasts swarmed the room and crawled across the carpet, clambering over the furniture, making terrible skittering noises that etched themselves into one's mind and refused to leave for many hours after. Yet they lacked any special abilities, their strength almost solely being in their numbers which proved little problem to Meta Knight who swiftly dispatched them with ease. Next came a wave of creatures akin to Gordos; spiky spheres that latched themselves onto any given surface and, if granted the opportunity, any given people. Their outer bodies were far more difficult to crack open yet Meta Knight parried them to either side upon their attack, violently launching themselves at him; his sword was never going to shatter against such mere foes. Golden light surrounded Galaxia and in a moment, the Star Warrior slashed the air and the energy wave sliced through the monsters which exploded in a puff of black smoke. Those not caught in the first wave shot out vicious spikes in all directions forcing King Dedede and Ribbon to take refuge, a wise thing in any case considering that even Meta Knight would not be able to destroy all the spikes before they struck the floor. Those aimed at Meta Knight himself were knocked to the ground and before they knew it, the monsters were also destroyed, splattering back into the paint they were conjured from. Meta Knight's eyes gleamed as bright as his sword he flicked in response, almost seeming bored. Either this Dark Matter was merely toying with him as it awaited further orders or the injuries it had received from the Great Crystal earlier were proving too much for it. Meta Knight only needed to wait it out before the thing surely lost its strength entirely.

The next demonbeast to be summoned slammed heavily onto the floor rocking both Meta Knight and King Dedede (Ribbon meanwhile fluttered in the air with great anxiety) whilst the air suddenly turned bitterly cold. The towering blue creature roared a mighty challenge and even the windows shook in their frames.

"An Ice Dragon!" Dedede cried. "I ain't seen one of them since Nightmare's days. Take it out before it tra— _not my golfin' trophies!_ " he shrieked.

The Ice Dragon stomped over the sadly crushed prizes and spotted the least threatening figure in the room. It began racing forward at an astonishingly high speed despite its bulk, leaving traces of white ice in its wake.

Ribbon closed her eyes, her wings suddenly freezing with absolute terror, and waited for the impact. She then heard a slashing sound and a violent bellow. She opened them again to find Meta Knight engaging with the Ice Dragon in close combat, attempting to draw the huge monster away from both herself and Dedede. His speed and prowess was incredible and were surely the reasons he was considered a Star Warrior. He evaded the demonbeast's long-range breath, which instantly froze the areas it struck with thick, glistening ice and likewise dodged the sharp icicles that formed on the ceiling and plummeted without warning. Dedede yelled something about his private quarters being trashed and that he would be absolutely getting Escargoon onto clean-up duty once he returned from visiting his beloved mother.

In his attempts to evade the demonbeast, Dedede ended up next to Ribbon who was watching the battle white-faced. The room shook violently as the Ice Dragon charged straight into Meta Knight, even while breathing ice. The Star Warrior kept his footing though being met with such a weighty foe, he was still forced backwards almost against the stone wall, his sabatons scraping into the flooring exposed during the chaos, the previously pristine carpet ripped up, curling in upon itself, representing another potential hazard on the impromptu battlefield.

The Star Warrior grunted in pain although his armour had taken most of the blow. He retaliated almost instantly, striking with his sword in a downward arc. The Ice Dragon shrieked, shedding not blood but black particles like the other demonbeasts, and retreated to the back of the chamber. Beneath his mask, Meta Knight smiled wryly; he would have likely defeated this foe far more quickly in his younger days but he was many centuries old now. It didn't matter too much. He could still take up the challenge and a knight who fell to a dragon would not be a true knight at all.

Ice continued to form within the king's chamber. Giant icicles dangled ominously from various points, threatening to fall at any moment. Each person's breath formed giant clouds in the frozen air and Ribbon felt the chill seep into her very bones. The cold increased further, drawing heat from each living person as if to fuel its own strength. The demonbeast roared tremendously and, using as much strength as it possibly could, conjured up a series of icicles all sharpened to an exact point and directed towards the veteran Star Warrior. They then shot forwards like a round of bullets.

Ribbon could not breathe. Somehow, impossibly so, the knight had quite literally teleported from one spot to another. In one moment he was stood before the ice barrage. The next he was not. And now he was before the Ice Dragon, ready to fell the great monster.

He slashed the Ice Dragon multiple times, the sword practically a golden blur, and finished it off with a final, stabbing blow. The demonbeast in its last moments became engulfed in glistening ice and once covered top to tail, it finally exploded in defeat.

A final icicle shuddered and shattered, plummeting down right above King Dedede and Ribbon. Almost knowing what would happen before it happened, Dedede bowled himself and the fairy over before the ice impaled the spot they had stood on a mere second before.

"Heh, heh…" Dedede mumbled more out of shock than anything. He did not notice the sword beam that had struck it a moment before and altered its falling path but that didn't seem especially important. "Looks like I've jus' saved your life, girly."

Ribbon opened her mouth to respond but then saw Adeleine painting another monster. How long could this continue? Couldn't they bring her back to her senses somehow? When would the barrier fade? Perhaps Meta Knight meant to have the girl exhausted before he could do anything without being attacked in turn. Her attention then snapped towards Meta Knight who suddenly hissed sharply. She saw what the Star Warrior was looking at and froze in horror. It was one of the very same creatures that had attacked her during her escape.

— **Surprised? We were always destined to return.—**

"Dark Matter…" Meta Knight spoke quietly. "It doesn't matter how many times your kind returns, I will always ensure that you can never win."

— **Master Zero thinks otherwise. But he is interested in you, Meta Knight and especially your little student. Most interested indeed.—**

Meta Knight momentarily stiffened and for the briefest of moments his eyes flashed red. He then stormed into action with Galaxia and battled against the false Dark Matter conjured from the canvas.

At this point, Kirby burst into the icy chamber. He quickly got his breath back and noticed another possessed friend suspended in mid-air still. "Oh, no," he groaned, seeing the tell-tale signs of possession by Dark Matter. "Not Adeleine too."

An unknown blackness sprayed forth from the false Dark Matter during the beatdown it was taking whilst the real one still occupied Adeleine. Thinking quickly, Kirby dashed past Ribbon and Dedede and taking in a deep gulp of air, floated next to Adeleine. In an instant, the canvas was knocked to the floor and a quick rocky jab broke the weak barrier into pieces. The young Star Warrior desperately tried dragging Adeleine down as well and away from the source of the chaos.

"You'll have to beat Dark Matter out of her!" Meta Knight yelled. He slashed his sword once, twice, thrice times, causing the false Dark Matter to keen. He blocked its path towards Kirby and continued the assault. Adeleine dropped to the carpet closely followed by Kirby. He picked himself up and saw Adeleine glare at him with those terrible eyes and run forwards screaming. Kirby froze; it was bad enough beating Bandana Dee up but Adeleine as well?

"You cannot hesitate, Kirby!" Meta Knight called out. He now cornered the false Dark Matter and swept aside its weakening attacks. "You must act quickly!"

Feeling awful, Kirby dashed forwards and knocked the girl heavily onto the floor.

Meta Knight's eyes narrowed as he witnessed the real Dark Matter emerge from the girl's still body; the false Dark Matter now vanishing into thin air, and blink its single eye. Smoke spewed into the room and for a few seconds, all light was obscured, even that from Meta Knight's bright eyes. The darkness cleared quickly but in that time, Dark Matter had managed to flee. Meta Knight sheathed his sword and grimaced; he had failed to destroy Zero's minion and it would surely return.

Meta Knight saw Kirby slowly bringing Adeleine around and only now noticed that he himself had sustained some slight wounds. A few light blue particles danced over his dark skin and in a short space of time, the wounds soon disappeared.

"You can heal yourself?" Ribbon asked cautiously, watching the display.

Meta Knight let his arm drop. "Mmm. It is one of my skills as a Star Warrior. It doesn't heal much but it is certainly better than nothing and it is more than most have. I believe you'll be wanting this?"

He picked up the Crystal Shard that Adeleine had been holding and handed it over much to Ribbon's surprise; she had entirely forgotten about it during the chaos and she stammered her thanks.

"Your Majesty could have stepped in at any time, you know," Meta Knight also added, glancing over at the weighty penguin monarch.

Dedede shrugged. "You seemed to be doin' mighty fine yerself, Meta Knight. I'd have only gotten in the way. Though we were nearly impaled by a load of ice, you know."

"It… it happened again… didn't it?"

Adeleine was fully conscious now. She sat upright and kept her eyes cast down, clutching a single brush as if for comfort.

"I'm afraid so," Meta Knight answered gently. "Are you injured at all?"

Adeleine shook her head. "I… don't think so. I just…" She did not know how to continue at this point and before anyone knew, she burst into tears.

"Well, this ain't how I planned to spend my leisure time," Dedede sighed as Kirby awkwardly patted his wailing friend on the back.

"Don't worry," Kirby was saying in an attempt to both comfort Adeleine and hide his own anguish. "You got through it well last time and you will again. Bandana Dee was fine enough when I left him."

"He was possessed by Dark Matter as well?" his mentor spoke quietly.

Kirby nodded solemnly.

Meta Knight gave a heavy sigh. "We better collect him and all head back to the GSA. Sir Arthur will want to hear about this."

* * *

"Since we are likely to be facing the same kind of situation as we did the last time Zero made its presence known," Sir Arthur was saying, "no Star Warrior or Galaxy Soldier is to venture out on their own for missions of any kind and we would also have you with someone even during your free time. You will each be assigned your usual partners unless stated otherwise and we will gather intelligence upon anything to do with Zero and the Dark Matter race whilst we hunt for the Crystal Shards. Any suspicious activity amongst the locals in Cappy Town, wherever you are assigned or even amongst your comrades must be reported to myself or the other commanders." Sir Arthur's eyes, a kind of purple shade, glinted. "We must all remain vigilant if we are to protect the galaxy from this menace."

As the GSA leader addressed the army in the confines of the meeting hall, discussing how to deal with those possessed by Dark Matter, Ribbon took the time to observe its people. For an organisation that was meant to defend the Gamble Galaxy, their numbers were indeed small, possibly not even surpassing that of the army in her own kingdom back on Ripple Star, even as she found out later that some members were posted on other planets. What it lacked in size though they surely made up for in spirit. The fairy couldn't imagine the idea of voluntarily taking up arms and pledging one's self to defending entire lands, entire planets even, against a terrifying array of demonbeasts and foul manifestations such as the infamous Dark Matter. Ribbon supposed that Ripple Star had been lucky in that regard, never having been threatened by such a foe until now, even though they lacked people who had power that could allow them to be properly considered as Star Warriors like Kirby.

She looked carefully at the young Star Warrior. He listened carefully to the one in golden armour and it was he who had explained what had happened to his friends. Bandana Dee and Adeleine had been sent to the medical bay for an immediate examination for precaution's sake though fortunately both had been given the all-clear. Both it seemed lacked the traits to serve as a worthy host for long. The pink puffball had hugged them tightly afterwards. Still, it must have hurt seeing his friends like that and it seemed he had been through much in his young life already. He had to soldier on though. He had no choice.

Ribbon wished she could be as brave.

Kirby glanced her direction though Ribbon quickly looked away, not wanting to appear rude by staring so blatantly. She instead focussed upon the army again and saw how they were made up of many different races; more varied than Ripple Star to be sure; with most carrying swords buckled against their sides. Notably however, there was not a single Cappy amongst them. Cappies, it had to be said, didn't make good soldiers but there were some that performed other roles within the GSA; administration, data analysts, mechanical and electrical engineers, and so forth. An organisation such as this could not be served by just warriors alone. All played an important role. All contributed to the efforts of those who would defend the galaxy.

Ribbon let out an inaudible sigh. Here they were potentially risking their lives for her planet and she couldn't do a thing to help them.

As the briefing went on, she thought over the exhausting, terrifying day and the things she had witnessed. Was this what the Galaxy Soldiers and Star Warriors had to endure each time? If this happened on a fairly frequent basis, then she could understand the concerns of Cappy Town's inhabitants even as the Galaxy Soldiers restored whatever damage had been taken and certainly not a soul had been hurt thanks to Kirby. Would such things happen if the GSA weren't close by? Yet the whole of Popstar had been invaded by Zero and the Dark Matter forces before so perhaps it didn't matter where they lived; they were still a potential target. A world as peaceful as hers had been brought under Zero's submission – no-one was truly safe from the threat of darkness.

Before they had left the castle grounds in Dedede's open-top limousine, a few people had come to see them and asked what was going on. A young woman with blonde hair had talked extensively to Kirby and Meta Knight, the latter of which had faintly surprised the fairy although she couldn't quite say why. They couldn't stay long and there had been little time for introductions but when they finally left, Ribbon looked back and saw the family waving them off. Kirby waved back but he could not hide the forlorn look in his eyes.

A sudden scraping of seats and pounding footsteps brought the fairy's attention; they must have been given their mission briefings or something similar and the assembly had drawn to a close. She noticed Kirby hadn't joined them and he wore a faint look of confusion. She fluttered across from the sidelines once the Galaxy Soldiers and other Star Warriors had left the premises.

"What about me, sir?" Kirby asked Sir Arthur as he stepped down from the podium.

"I want you to remain at the headquarters until further notice and continue your training lest Dark Matter attacks again," the golden warrior informed him, "and though you haven't been attacked directly, we would like to avoid that immediate possibility. If any of the Cappies comes forward with any information also, they most likely will wish to speak with you first. I'd also like you to keep an awareness out for King Dedede: you know that he is a likely target of Dark Matter and it is quite possible that Miss Ribbon here maybe as well."

Ribbon blanched. She hadn't thought of that.

The pink puffball nodded in understanding. "OK."

"And besides, I can hardly send you out in the field in your current condition; not when you appear so exhausted."

Ribbon realised that Kirby did appear especially tired and even now was attempting to stifle his yawns. "Mmm… I guess so."

"In that case, I suggest you to return to your quarters early tonight and if you would be so kind, direct Miss Ribbon to the guest rooms also later on. Perhaps it would be a good idea to point out the library as well; I daresay knowledge of the other planets will come in handy during this mission if you have not covered them much during your own training." Sir Arthur turned to Ribbon. "I hope you will find your stay educational. You are now both excused while Sir Meta Knight and I discuss further matters."

Ribbon started; she hadn't even noticed Meta Knight lurking in the shadows despite the brightness of his eyes though perhaps that wasn't so surprising considering it was a skill he had managed to hone over so many years. The Star Warrior in question inclined his head while his mask hid a faint note of amusement.

"Thank you, Sir Arthur," Ribbon replied. "I hope I can make myself useful while here." _If I can that is,_ she internally added, feeling her lack of any considerable powers keenly.

Kirby gave a hasty bow. "Night, Sir Arthur, Meta… uhh, Sir Meta Knight."

After receiving the customary farewells, Kirby escorted Ribbon out of the hall and his voice could be heard mentioning something about food. Once they had left, Sir Arthur gave a small sigh.

"I wonder if he's too familiar with you at times."

"Too much formality would have been a hindrance given Kirby's particular training requirements," Meta Knight answered. "If you are concerned that our familiarity means I am not given the same kind of respect from Kirby as I do from the others, be rest assured that that is not the case."

"I hope so. And I hope this odd tiredness is not the result of playing too many video games into the night."

Meta Knight shook his head. "I occasionally hear him at night since his room is next to mine; I believe he suffers bad dreams from time to time though he hasn't mentioned anything about them. I am waiting for him to open up about it if he so chooses."

Sir Arthur frowned. "I thought you might have approached Kirby before now about it if it becoming such an issue."

"I thought you said about Kirby being too familiar with me?"

Sir Arthur smiled briefly. "Hmm, I suppose I did. Now, we better go to the research facility; it's about your on-going mission."

"I assumed that would be the case."

The two veteran Star Warriors passed from the meeting hall and made their way to a long series of underground passages that were of restricted access only. One swipe of Sir Arthur's hand admitted them entrance and after a few minutes of near-silent walking, they came to an open space where objects of unknown origin and danger were eagerly studied, many hailing from other worlds and were reputed to have great power or held great knowledge that could prove beneficial to their overall goals. They saw Sir Nonsurat and a few researchers examining one recent acquisition that was currently taking centre stage. The article in question towered above them all and struck many with its extraordinary beauty so that one would wish to spend all their time gazing into its pure glass surface and themselves. Two extravagant golden wings stretched out from its left and right sides and four equally golden stars, two at the top and two at the bottom, nestled the structure. The entire thing, most certainly a treasure, shone brightly of its own accord even in the darkest of spaces and tempted all to look within and deeply lose themselves in their reflection…

The Star Warrior noticed his two comrades and waved them over.

"Funny old thing this, isn't it? We've still had no success in letting anyone else enter yet you have no apparent problems, Meta Knight. I'm afraid we're still no closer to finding out why that might be the case. Nothing's tried coming out since the last time at least but one can see flittering shadows every now and then."

Sir Arthur stared upwards towards the upper level of the stars not wanting to look too closely into its reflective surface. "Do you suppose that Kirby would be able to enter this mirror, Meta Knight?"

"Frankly, Arthur, I'd be more surprised at this point if Kirby _couldn't_ enter than if he could."

From the side of the mirror, Sir Nonsurat chuckled and leant on the handle of his combat axe. "Same here. He's like you in many ways, that little one."

Meta Knight's mask hid a small smile. "If you say so."

Sir Arthur's expression, however, was serious. "Have you thought about bringing Kirby here? If he can enter, the perhaps matters would be made easier in the long run."

Meta Knight's eyes turned green as he spoke. "I had considered it but now with this Dark Matter business, Kirby would not be able to take this on as well and certainly not on his own. I do not want him distracted at the present time particularly if…" Here the veteran Star Warrior hesitated slightly, a rare occurrence indeed. "Particularly if Zero makes plans to take personal revenge in some way."

Sir Arthur made a nondescript sound in response. He again looked up at the mirror and now pulled out his sword, a gold and silver blade with a red gem in its hilt. It was a strong if ordinary sword. He turned it over this way and that as if testing its balance. He then cast a glance at Meta Knight's sword Galaxia currently hidden in its small sheath.

"I wonder…" he spoke. "Perhaps the reason why you can enter this mirror, and that Kirby might also be able to do so, is because of being able to wield Galaxia. Perhaps they were both constructed by the same race."

Meta Knight unsheathed Galaxia whose blade phased wholly into existence from its hilt as soon as it was removed and examined it. The blade had been forged a long time ago though for whom and for what purpose was unknown. Neither was it known how long the sword has resided in its lonely cave on a certain, god-forsaken planet. Legends and rumours about the sword had inevitably spread and it fell to the Star Warriors to retrieve Galaxia before the harbinger of demonbeasts that was Nightmare could learn how to harness its powers. The crucial issue however, was that Galaxia would only allow itself to be used by a select, powerful few, those considered to be worthy of it, possessing the right qualities, being forged with a spirit and will of its own. Meta Knight, being one of the Star Warriors sent on this deadly mission, was no less surprised than anyone else when Galaxia had accepted him, particularly in the aftermath of a dear friend's sacrifice to ensure the mission's success. And then years later the blade had freely chosen another Star Warrior capable of wielding it, one so young at the time he could not even speak properly.

 _Well?_ Meta Knight thought. _Could that be a viable reason?_

 _Perhaps,_ Galaxia responded with a feminine voice. _I do not know these creators and the young Star Warrior has not been tested here yet._

"Hmm," Meta Knight said out loud. "It is possible though I cannot claim to give an answer with any definite certainty. Now, I assume the reason I am here is because there has been another disturbance?"

"Yes indeed," Sir Nonsurat confirmed, a little more serious now. "Sometimes you get these dark vibes emanating from it, you know? Not something you can totally pinpoint but still. That and the feeling something's trying to break into our world on multiple occasions is a bit of an indicator as well."

"As if there isn't enough trouble in this world already," Sir Arthur noted drily.

 _And now we have Dark Matter and potentially Zero to contend with as well,_ Meta Knight mentally sighed. _I can't ask Kirby to do this even if he can enter; he's doing too much already since our numbers are still small._

Holding Galaxia steady, Meta Knight spoke, "I shall endeavour to quell the disturbance as soon as possible."

Sir Arthur nodded once. "Good luck, Meta Knight."

The researchers, who had long since stopped their work, stepped aside respectfully to allow their best Star Warrior admittance. He placed a glove on its heavy, gilded frame as if sensing or perhaps waiting for something. A few heartbeats passed before he removed it. He regarded the structure with a cool calculation.

Then, in one smooth motion, Meta Knight stepped through the rippling glass of the Dimension Mirror and vanished.

* * *

The night was still fairly young and as such, Kirby and Ribbon had not yet retired to sleep. Rather, Kirby thought it best that they were distracted in some way, considering the kind of day they had had and thus this was how the pair found themselves within the game room with Kirby being especially glad that there was no-one else about. They would have only asked awkward questions in any case.

"You mean you don't really know how your Copy Ability works?" Ribbon had asked as they played some platformer whilst curled up on the comfortable sofa. The fairy had never played these kinds of games before but she was having quite good fun in learning about them and decided they would be an excellent thing to have on her home planet. If things were restored to their peaceful state that was.

Kirby shrugged. It was like asking how he could walk and talk. "Sorry. It's kinda hard to explain. I usually sorta see it in my mind and feel the kind of power I need to control but I can't describe how it feels like. Each one has its own feeling and my training usually involves connecting with that feeling so I can get more out of each Ability while also finding new ones. I can get it down really quick nowadays but I'm finding the Combo Abilities Meta Knight's making me try hard because two of the same Ability feels really intense and two different Abilities feel… really different. And I'm almost too fast because I'm used with working with just one Ability so it kinda… blows up." Kirby smiled apologetically. "I'm not really making sense am I?"

"But you managed to get two of the same Copy Abilities to work earlier today, right?"

The pink puffball nodded. "I tend to make things work when I'm fighting against something. That's probably how I'll find more Copy Abilities. But you helped me out of a jam so thanks for that."

"Oh, well," said Ribbon, turning pink. "Um, you're welcome. I'm sure you'd have managed to do something though. But I guess that's what Benikage meant by you swallowing a pillow."

"It was a weird dream I was having," Kirby said wearily. People just never seemed to let that one go for some reason. "I thought I was eating something really nice and then I woke up wondering where my pillow had gone and Joe was laughing at me, saying I'd swallowed it in one go. I can't help having a bottomless stomach." As if to demonstrate this point, Kirby tipped the last of a bag of chocolates down his throat despite having had a substantial dinner only a couple of hours ago. "I just always feel hungry."

"A bottomless stomach?" Having witnessed Kirby's powers, Ribbon couldn't be sure whether he was being metaphorical or literal. "What do—"

"I can't begin to explain that one. Hey, there's a puzzle we need to get through…"

There was an amiable atmosphere as the pair continued to pick their way through the levels. It was quite relaxing and comforting, Ribbon thought, to be doing such an activity with a friend and while they had only known each other for a couple of days, barely any time at all, she reckoned that Kirby could absolutely be considered a friend at this point. As such, she felt compelled to tell the young Star Warrior a bit about herself, what she liked, what she did and was grateful that the pink puffball listened carefully. She liked looking at flowers, singing to herself when no-one else was around and baking biscuits and eating sweet things. To Kirby's amusement, she also liked butterflies which sparked a conversation on why exactly butterflies were so wonderful. She enjoyed flying through the air on a sunny day, feeling the wind blow through her hair and seeing the land stretch out far below. It was nothing particularly special to relate these things for she considered them to be quite mundane. And yet to speak of them to a new friend after the chaos of today was indeed special. In turn, Kirby talked about what he liked and so the two passed much time in happy companionship.

Ribbon also spoke about what her home world was like, a planet that pulsed like a heart as Popstar shone like a star. Where she lived was as green and pleasant as this land and the blue skies were frequently patterned with bright rainbows. In the atmosphere on a clear night, one could see the pink hearts gently glow. She herself liked to watch these after a hard day's training – they were soothing somehow much as Kirby liked to watch the stars for the same reason. She hoped that she would see them again once peace was restored to Ripple Star.

"It can be restored… right?" the fairy whispered. "And… everyone there?"

Seeing the worried look on her face and not wanting to see the fairy upset, Kirby had immediately nodded. "When Popstar got attacked by Zero, the entire world went dark and it seemed to lose its light. But afterwards, light returned and everything soon went back to normal. Ripple Star will be OK. I'm sure of it."

Kirby sounded sincere enough and Ribbon was quite prepared to take his word for it. And yet now looking at his face, he seemed rather worried himself, almost as if he was hiding something. "Kirby?"

The controller the young Star Warrior had been playing with before now rested between his feet. He looked anguished, unsure of himself but wanting to say something and get something off his chest even to a person he hadn't known very long at all. Perhaps it was better that way. "Please don't say this to anyone else but… I'm just thinking about today. About Bandana Dee and Adeleine. I… I've fought Dark Matter before and I've seen people possessed by them before. And today I couldn't stop the same thing from happening again. I can't help but feel guilty." Kirby stared at the floor, his earlier happiness extinguished. "I've fought Dark Matter more than once but they're back again."

"But you couldn't have done anything to prevent that, Kirby," Ribbon said. The battles must indeed have taken their toll. To have to hurt a friend to free them… she couldn't imagine having to do that herself. "Those monsters just came out of nowhere. And Meta Knight said that you could never destroy all of them. But you freed them and that's the important thing, right?"

"I guess so," Kirby reluctantly agreed. "But I can't help but feel this way. I just..." Kirby sighed. "I don't know. I really don't know."

"Well..." said Ribbon slowly. "I know you'll be brave. I think you're a really brave person, Kirby, doing all that you do. And I'm sure your friends think the same way and they know it's not your fault or anything so you shouldn't feel guilty. That Dark Matter did horrible things but you stopped them anyway. That's… that's brave to me."

Kirby looked up. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had said such words to him or if anyone ever had at all. He scratched his cheek with embarrassment and tried to form a reply. Maybe there were some other things he could talk about. Maybe everything would be alright afterwards.

"Ribbon, I—"

Whatever Kirby was going to say was interrupted as Knuckle Joe, Benikage and Sirica suddenly barged into the room carrying some snacks and immediately spotted the pair. "Hey, guys! That was some day, huh? I thought that briefing would never end! Oh, you're showing Ribbon these games? OK, we can get some party games on now!"

"Oh, yeah," Kirby grinned at Knuckle Joe. "I thought we kinda needed to chill. Uhh, Ribbon, this is Knuckle Joe and this is Sirica and you've already met Benikage, right?"

Ribbon was properly introduced to Kirby's friends and soon enough, a new game was booted up, allowing the Galaxy Soldiers to relax for the night before they started their serious work the next morning. While a fun time was had by all, and Kirby was laughing at Knuckle Joe's antics, Ribbon knew that the moment she and Kirby were sharing before had been lost and when she went to bed that night, she had more questions than answers running through her mind.

She could only hope that everything would be OK.


	6. The Nature of Darkness

**It's been a few months (working with computers has put me off doing anything at home entirely , especially in my lacklustre space and lack of privacy) but I've got a bit of free time so I thought I could get this uploaded and polished. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Nature of Darkness**

 _ **—**_ _ **Do you think you can escape from me, little Star Warrior? From your destiny? I will see you brought before me and I will make you beg for death.—**_

 _In a black landscape and a red, swirling mist at his feet, Kirby beheld before him an eye that seemed to fill his entire sight, an eye filled with a cruel and terrible malice that would stop at nothing to achieve its desire. The eye was bloodied, split, its veins pulsated visibly even in the darkness. The blood hissed and steamed upon dripping onto the featureless floor. It had ripped once by none other than itself._

 _Kirby desperately wanted to run but as always, it was impossible. Even as he watched, the malice's form was beginning to change. The violent tear he had seen before was slowly patching itself and from its sides, strange, segmented wings began to sprout with dark, red feathers growing from soon after. A halo materialised above its body and with a soft, glowing light surrounding the entity, Kirby could not fail to understand the irony of its new visage._

 _ **—**_ _ **Refer to me as Zero-Two if you wish as you behold my latest form. Though you killed my old form, a new one shall always be created from the spilt blood. Whatever you do, little Star Warrior, you cannot defeat me. You will never defeat me. I was formed when the universe was young and I will always rise again and again. I forever endure and no matter the power of your little heroic heart, your little internal star, I am far more powerful than you can ever dream of, in ways you do not know and cannot hope to comprehend. Your life will cease to exist and I will completely destroy you. Mind, body and soul. Your spirit will be completely crushed and I will devour your soul piece by piece. Your heart and power of the stars will be torn asunder and lost to the infinite darkness. Your legacy will be one of doom and failure for I shall rise above you and see you annihilated from very existence.**_

 _ **—**_ _ **I will be watching you, little Star Warrior. I will always be watching…—**_

 _Kirby wanted to say something, anything, scream his defiance in the face of evil, but his voice and courage failed him. The being that was Zero, or rather, Zero-Two, ascended into the ether with an almost heavenly aura, a golden atmosphere that one would wish to be wholly enveloped in. As soon as it disappeared however, so too did the only source of light within this realm plunging Kirby into a world of darkness. A world of nothing._

 _Kirby suddenly felt the darkness weighing immensely heavy upon him and gasped for air. He desperately sought a way to escape but saw only endless black. He ran for what seemed like miles, searching for a single source of light. The air was being crushed from his lungs. He couldn't see anything. He couldn't hear anything. He couldn't feel anything except the endless darkness._

 _Kirby curled upon the spot shaking and feeling his heart pound far too fast. Someone had to know where he was. Someone had to find him._

 _He was alone. There was no-one. Not a soul. And there never would be._

 _The young Star Warrior rocked to himself, alive and yet dead, forever alone…_

* * *

A few minutes later, Kirby's eyes opened. His body was slick with sweat yet he felt dreadfully cold inside. His heart was still racing and he felt his internal power pulse violently as if he had just fought a terrible battle. It took several painful moments for him to realise that he was still in his room in the GSA Headquarters with his various trinkets and knick-knacks collected from all manner of regions sitting on the shelves, his training sword resting against the door and his covers almost completely thrown off onto the carpet. He also realised he was trembling badly.

Kirby just about made it to the bathroom before throwing up.

After some time, Kirby shakily wiped his mouth and stumbled back into his bedroom. Though moonlight was streaming through even the closed curtains, Kirby hastily threw them open and switched on the main light. Glancing at the clock, he saw it was not long after three in the morning but he was certain he wasn't about to drop off again. He instead grabbed his headphones and music player and flicked through the tracks until he found something preferable. Kirby then finally laid back and stared at the ceiling, hoping the music would somehow drown out his turmoiled thoughts.

Dream Land was so-called because of its propensity for allowing good dreams. The Fountain of Dreams that had existed for as long as anyone could remember ensured good dreams could be had by all while nightmares were kept to a minimum and even if one did have something like a nightmare, very rarely were they anything more than just a simple bad dream.

But these nightmares…

Every now and then, usually after fighting an especially vicious demonbeast, Kirby had a bad dream and often ended up re-fighting the same monster but it was nothing he couldn't deal with and not long afterwards, the details would slip away from him anyway. After he had fought Zero, he had been too exhausted to dream and felt only an overwhelming sense of relief that it was all over with.

Yet it clearly wasn't over.

When would it be over? As far as Star Warriors went, Kirby was by far the youngest and had only been fighting for a measly amount of time indeed whereas most of the remaining Star Warriors had been fighting for decades, centuries even. What right then had he to complain compared to the others when his fighting career had only effectively just started, despite the things he had achieved thus far? What things had the others seen and dealt with in those years? What had they suffered through? What had they lost in that time?

Yet none of them had been forced to fight from such a young age, right? They had all freely chosen this path, hadn't they? And none of them had been… targeted like this had they? It was not they who had incurred the wrath of the darkness. It was not they who had no choice in the matter, who had never had a choice...

Kirby sighed. As long as his powers remained intact, he would never stop fighting; indeed, they would only continue to grow and develop more. And in that time, he would always have to face horrors like Zero, or rather, Zero-Two. Things like that who wanted him more than dead…

If he could stop the nightmares at least, it wouldn't be so bad, would it? He had destroyed Nightmare as a very young child, destroyed Dark Matter Blade – amongst the most high-ranking of Dark Matter creatures – and finally Zero only a handful of years later. He could do this. He had support. Besides, he had people he dearly wanted to protect and a land that he loved so he had to be strong no matter what.

And besides, thinking about it some more, who was to say that he had to face Zero-Two again? There were other highly experienced Star Warriors within the force, perhaps not with his powers, but surely that didn't matter, right? He was just worked up from the previous events and it had inevitably led to a bad dream. It wasn't prophetic. Dreams were dreams; they didn't have to _mean_ anything.

Feeling a little better, Kirby decided he might as well try and get some sleep after all. Goodness knows he needed it; people usually forgot that he had technically been woken up too early from hypersleep and while it probably didn't matter at all, and was in fact a great benefit to the pink puffball, allowing him to develop his powers much faster than normal, he still felt as if he was forever playing catch-up. That was his reasoning anyway and he was sticking with it.

Yawning heavily and feeling his eyelids drooping, Kirby set his music player aside, pulled the curtains shut and turned off the light. He crawled back into bed and hoped that everything would be OK in the morning; they usually were.

However, he did decide to leave his bedside lamp on. Just in case.

* * *

Later that morning, Ribbon decided to take up Sir Arthur's suggestion of visiting the library if only so she would have something constructive to do and not feel useless which was how she found herself in one of the comfortable chairs next to a solid oak table with a stack of books on one side and a few sheets of paper on the other so she could note anything important down. The range of texts they possessed was highly impressive indeed far outmatching that of the private library in the fairy queen's castle. Then again, it was an organisation whose missions took them to a number of worlds within the Gamble Galaxy so it was only to be expected.

Ribbon stole a quick glance at the time: 7:15. She doubted that she would be disturbed too much thinking that the warriors would either be asleep or getting ready for their missions or training or breakfast; she didn't know how it worked exactly. In any case, she appreciated the current quietness as she turned the leaves of the first book she picked up. It turned out to be a study on Popstar's environments entitled _The Stellar Biome_ , and while it was undoubtedly interesting and explained how people could live on a planet that ended at several points, she decided it was ultimately unhelpful given the current circumstances and picked up a different tome.

Ribbon didn't know how long she spent there but she was getting more frustrated with the fact that she wasn't learning anything particularly new. She certainly was not ignorant of the other planets within the Gamble Galaxy and she knew that if they had to deal with people who had chanced upon any Crystal Shards, it was quite likely they wouldn't simply hand them over without some kind of recompense. It would, however, definitely be better to negotiate such handovers as opposed to locating shards that had fallen into the ocean or something. The fairy gripped the edge of the table in frustration; if only she hadn't been attacked by Dark Matter, they wouldn't have needed to waste time locating each and every shard.

Ribbon stopped. Did they have any information on Dark Matter? She might as well find out. Perhaps it would somehow help out the GSA and Kirby in particular, especially as he had gone out of his way to help her thus far. He really was quite fascinating…

The fairy shook her head; she ought not to be distracted and went to search for anything related to Dark Matter. It took quite some time before she found anything promising and silently regarded the slim volume before her. Of course, they wouldn't have much information on Dark Matter; one could hardly study the lifeform at leisure. Maybe she was just hoping for something miraculous to jump out at her; indeed, that was what this whole endeavour was built upon, anything to give her hope.

 _I doubt I'll be able to do anything to help_ , Ribbon mentally berated herself as she flicked through the book and tried to find relevant passages. About halfway through though, a section caught Ribbon's eye and she began to read on with interest:

" _As one whose desire is to eradicate worlds, it is quite impossible to describe Dark Matter sufficiently. It is often referred to in the singular but the term equally applies to the plural also for it is of a malevolent cloud that can split itself into many copies. It is assumed that it has sentience of a sort though how much is uncertain even as it serves that most foul entity Zero._

" _Always the Dark Matter race and Zero have existed in this universe and time and time again, heroes have arisen to prevent the destruction of their worlds. Where they have not arisen, we get Halfmoon, a planet that has not been truly habitable for centuries as its very soul, it has been deemed, was eradicated wholly, for like people, planets also possess souls of their own. In all our millennia of existence, the nature of the soul is still a great mystery but there are some absolutes of the soul that have been defined. Neither magic nor technology can bring a lost soul back to this realm nor indeed copy a soul; some things can never be."_

Ribbon stared at the words in silent horror. Was such a thing possible? Could her home planet be destroyed in such a way? The possibility that a planet could have a soul at all was one she had never head of before and it was an intriguing prospect... but also an existentially terrifying one. Shuddering, she continued reading hoping that there were some words of comfort hidden in all this.

" _The power of Zero and Dark Matter appears to wax and wane like that of a moon so there are occasions when their strength is pale against that of a planet and its heroes so that they pull through without significant loss. However, when their strength is at its zenith, it is mighty indeed and even the greatest of warriors may succumb. One warrior with the wings of an angel fended off a terrible Dark Matter force without companions to aid him but he fell under a terrible doom as a result. His power of light though managed to stall these foes for longer than usual._

" _Yet it is certain that these manifestations of darkness can never truly be destroyed."_

Ribbon promptly slammed the book shut. How could such things even exist in the universe? It would have been better if she had never heard of them at all. How could people know that such an evil prevailed and yet still continue to fight against a perpetual doom with apparent acceptance?

 _Maybe… it's better than the alternative,_ she thought after a while. _If light can at least hurt it and the Great Crystal is fixed… well, it's better than nothing._

No matter what she felt about the situation, she had to soldier on and find the Crystal Shards. If so many people were willing to help her, then she would help them help her however she could and everything would be OK in the end.

There. It was better thinking that way, right?

"—ain't done with you yet!"

"—remind you that if you wish to speak with me about private matters, you will accompany me to my quarters to do so."

"Don't make no difference since you ain't tellin' me anythin'. An' you can't speak to me like that; I'm king round here!"

One of the voices obviously belonged to Dedede. Ribbon cast a cast look around – it appeared she was still alone. As the voices continued to argue, Ribbon felt unable to ignore them and crept towards the doors where she could hear the conversation better. After a moment, she suddenly realised that the other voice belonged to none other than Sir Arthur.

"It is quite simple, your Majesty. We are collecting the Crystal Shards in order to restore it to its original form and defeat Dark Matter. This has been explained to you before, has it not?"

"Um," a small voice mumbled. The king's retainer, Bandana Dee, tugged at his liege's robe, wishing he was anywhere else but here. "Great King…"

"That's all fine an' dandy," Dedede replied through gritted teeth, completely ignoring the Waddle Dee, "but I wanna know the perpendiculars of your lil' mission in case it affects me an' my kingdom in any way. It's not as if it's the first time we've been caught in the crossfire; believe you me, that _was_ not fun an' I was even gettin' blamed fer it at times."

"Most of the mission will take place off Popstar if that is your concern. We will endeavour to gather all the Crystal Shards on this planet first not only so it will be easier to pinpoint the locations of other shards on other planets but so that this one will be less of a target for Zero and Dark Matter." Sir Arthur regarded Dedede coolly. "You'll appreciate that this also makes you less of a target."

Ribbon blinked. Had the king previously been a victim of Dark Matter too?

"Yeah well, that didn't work out too well, did it? An' look what happened to my retainer; Kirby had to clobber it outta him! Bandana Dee coulda really been hurt!"

The Waddle Dee shifted uncomfortably. "They checked me and Adeleine over though, Great King, and it was fine."

"It ain't fine!" Dedede hotly exclaimed. "Who knows who could be next?" He glared at the golden warrior and folded his arms. "I let you have this land tax-free an' you say it's your job to get rid of monsters like these."

"I am sorry for what happened to Mr Bandana Dee and Miss Adeleine," Sir Arthur replied, "and I hope it won't happen again. I—"

"Pfft, you can't guarantee that!" Dedede cut across. "I'm expectin' that my kingdom is kept safe; I don't want Dark Matter here again!"

"We are working on that and trying to increase our numbers though as you know yourself, suitable candidates are rather lacking in Dream Land and indeed on Popstar itself. I will let you know the details when we have worked them out ourselves. If you—"

"Whoa!" Dedede cried. "You still don't know what the heck's goin' on? What if Dark Matter attacks again? What if they bring more monsters?"

"Then we will fight them." At this, Sir Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Providing there aren't any… ordered in."

Ribbon could sense a sudden air of awkwardness emanating from Dedede. The king fiddled with his gloves. "I thought that was all in the past? I haven't even attempted to do business once with Dark Matter or Zero. Why would I when… you know."

Bandana Dee tugged harder at the robes. "Great King, you shouldn't…"

"Nightmare cheated you time and time again yet you still ordered monsters, demonbeasts, from him with impunity," Sir Arthur spoke, his voice hard and cold.

Ribbon shivered. Dream Land's king had ordered _monsters?_

"Our forces were decimated by Nightmare's demonbeast armies on other worlds because tyrannical rulers kept purchasing them and terrorising their people," the GSA leader continued in the same harsh tone. "Many were killed in cold blood. Some of these rulers… yes, they showed signs of corruption by Nightmare but others were simply cruel and evil because they chose to be. As for yourself, _King Dedede,_ your kingdom is largely one at peace and certainly not threatened by neighbouring lands nor one that has been to war in recent history yet you consistently ordered monsters out of sheer pettiness. And for what purpose? To amuse yourself? Even though your purchases practically bankrupted your country? But even without the issue of money, those demonbeasts had the potential to kill your subjects and destroy the kingdom outright. Even the smallest and weakest of demonbeasts are a force to be reckoned with and for those untrained... Well, fortunately for Dream Land, Sir Meta Knight decided to bide his time here and then fate delivered Kirby here also. A young child whom you have previously tried to kill."

As Ribbon gaped in horror, King Dedede took a step back. "I'll admit I found him a kind of threat at first but he was really more my rival than anythin'." Dedede fumbled again with his gloves, oblivious to his being watched by another person. "Look, the whole Nightmare thing? It was like an addiction I couldn't shake. Made me feel strong. Someone to watch out for. You don't know what he was like, I—"

" _I don't know what he was like?"_ Sir Arthur suddenly spat with a voice that could cut through steel. Ribbon flinched and felt her wings flutter madly with agitation. "You presume to tell me that I don't know what Nightmare was like? The reason I strove to defend the galaxy from beings that have existed even before Nightmare! I who have been fighting for longer than you can imagine!" The golden warrior glared at the wide-eyed monarch. "You sit on a throne that may not even be yours and you haven't the faintest idea of what we must go through to keep everyone safe! You do not know the people we have lost, the things we have seen! You cannot understand what we have to do and how many times we've stared death in the face! I swear if it wasn't for Meta Knight, I—!"

At that point, Sir Arthur only just seemed to notice the quaking Waddle Dee retainer and exhaled heavily, remembering that this one at least had nothing to do with past events. He placed a hand against his mask and closed his eyes briefly. "My apologies… I should not let my emotions get the better of me." The GSA leader stood straight. "I will provide you with information regarding the current circumstances later on. I do understand that you need to know what is going on and at least it appears that you are taking a close interest perhaps for the good but to put it simply, your Majesty: I don't trust you."

With that, Sir Arthur swept past leaving behind a rather confused king and shaken retainer.

"Ain't never seen that before," Dedede frowned. "You reckon I pushed him too far?"

"Um… perhaps so, Great King."

Dedede ran a hat under his hat and groaned. "I should make it up to him but I do need to know what's goin' on even if he still doesn't trust me after all these years. It's _my_ kingdom after all…"

The pair took their leave and their voices soon trailed away from Ribbon's hearing. She fluttered over to the desk and regarded the books once more although she knew she would not be able to concentrate again. Not after all that…

Her first impression of King Dedede had been that of a loud, somewhat boisterous monarch – the complete opposite of her queen to be exact – who was most likely too used to getting his own way but he was also perhaps a decent sort of soul at heart. Indeed, Ribbon was prepared to think of most people as inherently good and Dedede did save her the other day with his quick actions.

So why on earth had he ordered demonbeasts into his very own kingdom?

One could perhaps have understood it somewhat if such actions were taken as a means of self-defence somehow although even that would have inevitably backfired given the nature of demonbeasts. Demonbeasts were relentless and violent, eager to cause death and destruction for its own sake. They would take commands from their clients at first, especially if the clients in question appeared powerful and a force of their own to be reckoned with, thus being worthy of respect. More often than not however, they would eventually turn upon their buyers and try to attack them. Even when things were at their most desperate, it was never a good idea to order in such creatures unless one was willing to sacrifice themselves to such forces of evil and to what cost? At least Ribbon knew with absolute certainty that her queen would _never_ do such a thing no matter the situation in the kingdom.

Would she if she got possessed though?

Ribbon shuddered and tried not to think such thoughts remembering instead how thankful she was that she had been able to so quickly find help for her stricken planet and people. She would never have been able to save Ripple Star on her own.

Just then, her thoughts were disturbed by a certain pink figure wandering into the library. He yawned heavily as if he had had very little sleep the night before. However, as soon as he saw Ribbon, he made a valiant attempt to perk up considerably.

"Morning, Ribbon," Kirby greeted her brightly. "Did you sleep well last night? How are you finding this place?"

"Not too bad," the fairy replied. "Um, to both questions." She had been quite surprised at her room's luxurious quality but then again, it was something they took quite seriously here. And while she had thought she would be awake for ages thinking about the events of yesterday, she had dropped off in only a few minutes. "Oh, uhh, Kirby?" _I really shouldn't be asking this,_ she mentally berated herself but she felt that the thoughts wouldn't go away otherwise. She tried to pick her words carefully. "Are you… friends with King Dedede in anyway?"

Kirby looked thoughtful. "Kinda. Sorta. It's hard to say. I don't mind him and he tolerates me if that's what you mean. Why?"

Ribbon hesitated. "I overheard Sir Arthur talking to King Dedede and he said your king ordered monsters in the past and that he tried to… well… hurt you with them." Kirby's eyes widened with understanding and Ribbon clasped her hands over her mouth wishing she hadn't said anything at all.

"Sorry I brought it up!" Ribbon quickly gabbled feeling horribly insensitive. "I didn't mean—"

Kirby shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm kinda surprised you heard it from Sir Arthur though." The young Star Warrior considered it for a moment before shrugging. "But yeah, Dedede used to get monsters from Nightmare; that's how I arrived here actually, because my starship got a signal from a dangerous demonbeast. At least that's how Meta, uhh, Meta Knight, explained it. I think Dedede saw the monsters as an opportunity to get rid of me at first and then just as some sort of rivalry against me. Meta Knight said it all made for good training in any case."

"He definitely doesn't order monsters anymore, does he?" a worried Ribbon asked.

"He can't. Not when Nightmare was destroyed," Kirby explained. "And those demonbeasts tended to backfire against Dedede pretty much all of the time anyway. But he isn't as bad nowadays really. Well, he's still annoying and tries pranking me for no good reason but I've been through worse." He decided that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to mention that the first thing Dedede had done to him when he had crash-landed as a child into Cappy Town was whack him off a cliff with a hammer.

"If you say so," Ribbon frowned, not entirely convinced. If Kirby was OK with it, she'd have to be too. "Still, what did the people think of it?"

"They were OK most of the time. They still are as a matter of fact. They're more likely to get annoyed with me if I don't sort things out quick enough. Like they're much better."

As Kirby said those words, he looked nervously to the side for a moment, wondering if he'd said too much. Ribbon didn't pass comment on it however, seemingly waiting for Kirby to continue. She wondered if he was going to mention anything about last night since they were alone but then she supposed Kirby didn't want to bring it up after all.

Instead, the young Star Warrior gave a lop-sided grin. "Well, it's my job I guess. So anyway, I thought about going into Cappy Town again to see if anyone's found any more Crystal Shards; it's better than doing nothing anyway."

"I thought you were supposed to be at the headquarters," Ribbon reminded the pink puffball even though she appreciated the suggestion.

Kirby shrugged. "I think Sir Arthur means me not going on an actual mission at the moment away from HQ and I can't do any training right now since Meta Knight's not here; I got a message this morning about that. I'm only going into town so it's not as if I'll be going far away." Privately, Kirby wondered if he could get into trouble for this and whether he was meant to not actually leave the premises at all. They surely didn't mean for him to not leave the building at all, cooped up like a prisoner? And for how long anyway? He hadn't been given a definite time limit and what was he supposed to do in a genuine emergency? The rule would have to be broken then.

Sir Arthur had just said remain at the headquarters in the general sense, right? Also, how was he supposed to keep an eye on Dedede if he was stuck here? And as for the Cappies potentially coming forward with information, it would be easier all round for Kirby to head into town himself and speak to them. He doubted they would come to him as the townsfolk found the place intimidating. As far as he was concerned, he was only helping out; he was sure that the commanders would prefer him to be proactive in any case.

"Um, Kirby? Thank you for helping me out," Ribbon said before she could stop herself. "I really don't know what I would have done without you."

Kirby's cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink, bordering on red, than normal. It wasn't that often that people thanked him for his efforts, especially in Cappy Town. They didn't mean it and Kirby was sure that they must still appreciate the things he did for them. It was just that they were so used to the young Star Warrior's exploits they just didn't notice them the same anymore.

"Uh, no problem," he replied. "Let's go to Cappy Town then."

As Kirby led the way out of the GSA Headquarters once more, he hoped that whatever happened today could distract him from the dark thoughts that were making him so uneasy.


	7. Falling Star

**Slow time at work so I was able to get on with editing this. I hope you enjoy the latest chapter! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Falling Star**

Upon a hill overlooking a vast landscape that seemed so familiar and yet was not at all, Meta Knight stood alone with nothing but the gentle breeze catching the corners of his cape. He appreciated the solitude of his current position despite knowing what was to happen soon and felt selfishly glad that the other Star Warriors were unable to follow him thus far. Breathing in the fresh air, he felt no inclination to move from his spot but as always, there was business to be getting on with.

As Meta Knight surveyed his surroundings, his cape vanished to be smoothly replaced by a set of wings; powerful wings that could be construed by some as a sign of a demonbeast.

The masked warrior flexed his wings experimentally, glad that he could have them freely out in the open. It was not healthy to have them restricted for too long; an even better reason than the first to be glad that others could not pass through the Dimension Mirror. Here there was a peace of sorts if one ignored the dangers afoot.

Beyond the shimmering sky in the far distance, in a world that refused to be an exact image of its counterpart, Meta Knight noticed the signs of the anomaly, a spot that this world's forces were trying to destroy in order to access the world he had temporarily left behind. He saw a patch of sky that appeared almost cracked in a spider-web fashion, like that of fragile glass. Thus, wasting no further time, Meta Knight kicked off the ground and took to the air.

Feeling the cool sensation of the wind rush past him and viewing the ground far below, Meta Knight felt a familiar pleasure. Here he was in his element, here he did not have to hide his true self. For all that he had done, the fact of his wings should not have mattered at all. At the beginning of his career though, such wings – dark purple, jagged and possessing sharp hooks upon the top edge – would have marked him as something else entirely, someone of great suspicion and not to be trusted. Someone like a demonbeast.

Now he kept his wings hidden as a matter of discretion, the idea being that there would be little point in revealing them now and there would only be consternation for his having hid them so long from now-trusted colleagues – not entirely his own choice it had to be said. Yet for the issues they brought, Meta Knight could not imagine being without his wings; he would be incomplete and therefore not his true self. The idea repulsed him.

He wondered how everyone would react when Kirby would inevitably grow his own wings.

Meta Knight soared on past clouds tinged light purple and bright yellow respectively, wings beating only occasionally and considered whether the veteran Star Warriors suspected his main mode of travel. His mission was strictly confidential of course, so only a few knew of his passage. For his part, he had informed his colleagues that he had uncovered a series of mirrors that allowed him quick travel across the land hence how he was often able to return so fast. This was not technically untrue; indeed, there were times when he absolutely had to use the mirrors dotted about this world, hence why they had called it the Mirror World. They were satisfied nonetheless. Most of them anyway.

It was odd, he supposed, regarding all this, that he had entrusted such personal information amongst other things with his young protégé Kirby who was, when all was said and done, still a child and as far as their species went, very young indeed despite the maturity he had developed that came with being an experienced warrior and the mystery of his actual age. Of course, it had been necessary to a point since Kirby would go through the same changes as Meta Knight had but what if the boy had let slip the secret at some point? But no, he had Meta Knight's confidence. He was even one of the very few people to have seen his mentor without his mask on several occasions. But then, he had more than earned the old Star Warrior's trust.

All too soon, Meta Knight had to cut his flight short as he noticed a flickering barrier ahead of him; a strange, seemingly magical construct that appeared to separate the land into smaller sections and the view beyond the barrier was not the same as actually being in that area, essentially a culled and distorted perspective. Only by the mirrors, or rather Mirror Doors, could a person travel between the areas; nothing physical could pass through the barriers. Meta Knight had found that out the hard way.

The masked knight dropped to the ground with practiced ease and sought a Mirror Door he had used before and marked out, having ridden the Mirra enemy, a blob-like creature that often stretched its expandable body over these entrances, beforehand. A couple of Star Blocks covered with a little moss lay by the Mirror Door though they had not been there before. Meta Knight tapped them with his sword and the blocks, actually Blockins, grumbled a protest before heavily bounding away. With the creatures gone, Meta Knight passed through the Mirror Door and arrived inside a thick forest with a well-trodden path. He strode on, taking a mental note of his location and figured he did not need to travel much further today.

To his right, there was a rustling.

Meta Knight stopped in his tracks and immediately looked at the source of the sound. "Who goes there?"

Normally, he would have stayed silent but he knew with absolute certainty that the noise would not have been made by his foe. His foe would not have given such a sign.

There was no answer. Frowning, Meta Knight continued on but also drew out Galaxia. Certainly, it could have been an animal but this had been happening far too regularly. Every time he had entered this place, there seemed to be something following him and he was sure it was the same creature. So far, it had not revealed itself and it was not in Meta Knight's interest to go looking nor did he have the time. But he was curious nonetheless.

Meta Knight now reached his destination with Galaxia glowing brightly in response. Then, seemingly stepping out of the shadows, a swordsman stood before him wearing dark armour and carrying an equally dark blade. It was a figure that was all too familiar.

Meta Knight's lip curled as he assessed his foe. "We meet again, my dark friend."

* * *

King Dedede huffed as he threw his last trophy away; stupid monster getting his prizes crushed like that. He swore Meta Knight was toying with that thing or he would have defeated it more quickly. Or maybe he was getting old. How old was he anyway?

He drummed his fingers against the now-empty trophy cabinet. He had finally taken responsibility in running the kingdom effectively and this was the thanks he got? Multiple invasions and assaults from creatures of darkness and none of it was even his fault. One wondered if it was down to karma. Hadn't he paid that off by now? Honestly, would all this have happened if Kirby never crash-landed into Dream Land?

Dedede sighed. That wasn't fair; Kirby was a good kid. Dedede had been stopped time and time again from doing absolutely terrible damage and whatever damage Kirby might have caused during his fights against monsters was minuscule compared to what Dedede could have potentially caused. Who knew what would have happened to the kingdom had he continued? He had meant what he said to Sir Arthur and frankly the kingdom would have been in a better position if he'd been addicted to anything else.

… Dammit, he really should have handed that Crystal Shard over when he had the chance.

Dedede opened a drawer where he normally kept his important things and pulled out a blue piece of crystal. Honestly, it had fallen into his hands by chance; the thing had dropped right before him when he was sunbathing the other day. It was a pretty bauble so he took it. No harm, right?

Maybe Dark Matter had arrived at the castle yesterday because it had detected _two_ shards?

At least it hadn't attacked him this time…

He needed to get this thing to Kirby; that was the best plan. He could say it fell near him and he wouldn't be lying; no need to mention the time exactly. Maybe Sir Arthur would be grateful for the assistance. Maybe he would finally trust him.

 **—We meet again.—**

Dedede sharply spun around and saw a member of Dark Matter floating before him.

"Not again…" he muttered. "What did I do to deserve this?"

 **—You are known to us, King Dedede and we—**

"Yeah, yeah, let's jus' get this over with, alright?" Dedede snapped. He drew his full height and weight up. "You're gonna try to possess me an' I'm gonna try an' whack you to oblivion with a mighty hammer swing!"

 **—You mean this hammer?—** Dark Matter enquired.

Dedede looked. It was sitting five feet behind Dark Matter and currently dissolving.

"Aww, dammit."

Two minutes later, a possessed Dedede stood up. Considering he had been without a weapon, he had put up a surprisingly good fight.

 _The young Star Warrior needs bringing here._

Dedede rang a bell to which a Waddle Dee would soon answer his summons. He sat back and relaxed. All he needed to do now was give some simple instructions and wait.

* * *

"Must have someone with a very sweet tooth in the GSA," Gengu commented as he filled a box with various treats.

Kirby shrugged. "Just doing a favour."

"The usual delivery spot?"

"Please. And thanks."

"For Meta Knight, huh?" Ribbon asked as they left the shop once Kirby had again asked about the Crystal Shards hoping that the Cappy hadn't accidentally sold any or something; it was now imperative that as few people came into contact with them as possible. The young Star Warrior nodded.

"Yeah. I promised that if I was late for training, I'd buy some sweets to make up for it so Meta Knight probably wouldn't mind if I was late every time."

Ribbon giggled. Kirby found himself smiling.

"Joe thinks I took the idea too seriously and I don't really have to buy anything but I made a promise and I always keep my promises." He looked straight into Ribbon's eyes. "And I promise that I'll help find the Crystal Shards and get rid of Dark Matter and Zero from Ripple Star no matter what."

The fairy wasn't sure how to respond to such a declaration at first though she felt certain he was being absolutely sincere. "I… thank you, Kirby. I'll hold you to it," she smiled.

"Oh, Kirby, you're here!"

Both turned to see a certain young Waddle Dee approach them. He panted for breath having come quite some way.

"Oh, Bandana!" Kirby cried, running up to his friend. "How are you and Adeleine feeling? Sorry I didn't get chance to ask before, I—"

"D-don't worry about it," the Waddle Dee gasped. "We're both fine. Guess we'll be avoiding crystals for a while," he added to Ribbon with an apologetic shrug. He returned to Kirby. "Anyway, Great King asked for you, like, uh, immediately. Dunno what it is, he just needs you."

"Huh, that's unusual," Kirby remarked. At least it gave him a genuine reason to be out and about, essentially on business. "He could have asked me earlier at the GSA; I suppose he's too proud to do that though." Kirby thought about it. Maybe Dedede knew something he didn't want to mention in the vicinity of Sir Arthur. "Are you sure he needs me? Like, it's actually important?"

"Well, 'wants' is more the correct word and you know what he's like. You might as well come too, Ribbon," Bandana Dee added. "Did you get a tour of the castle? It's great, isn't it?"

"Yes, very," Ribbon agreed and as the trio wandered up the winding path to Castle Dedede, she and Bandana Dee began discussing the finer points of castle architecture to which the fairy was highly knowledgeable while Kirby pondered to himself over what Dedede could possibly want with him. Their relationship had been a fraught one over the years since the very beginning when Kirby defeated the Octacon demonbeast that the king had ordered in to which the latter was annoyed by to say the least even as said monster tried to destroy his castle. From that point on, Dedede would systematically order more monsters and Kirby would defeat them as was his sworn duty, slowly but surely developing his powers along the way at a far earlier age than expected. It had taken a long time for the king to finally learn his lesson and grow up.

Why had Dedede hated him though? Jealousy perhaps, anger at being shown up or something else? A feeling that he was somehow being usurped by the foreigner? Kirby had never gotten a proper answer but neither did he want to ask for one. Considering that much of the animosity had been directed towards a young child, it had been extraordinarily petty to say the least even if said child in question had considerable powers that it would be unwise to mess with. He tried to put it behind him nowadays and usually could with ease, especially as the king was definitely on warmer terms with him, but every now and then, he couldn't help but wonder _why_ the king had acted that way towards him.

For the second time in as many days, Kirby and Ribbon entered Castle Dedede closely following Bandana Dee. Kirby looked to where his adoptive family's residence was and considered how not so very long ago, he was happily playing in those rooms, able to thrust all his cares to one side and not give them a second thought. He sighed heavily.

"You OK, Kirb?"

"Huh?" Kirby noticed his friend staring at him. "Yeah, I'm fine; I've just been busy. Will Dedede be in his room?"

"He's probably on the castle balcony since it's sunny," the Waddle Dee shrugged. "Best check that first."

Ah yes, the castle balcony; Kirby had many memories of it, most of them bad truth be told. He had fought Zero's strongest minion Dark Matter Blade and the first form of Zero himself on that balcony. The castle's foundations had been ripped up during an invasion and sent soaring in the air with them clinging to dear life on that balcony. He had looked death multiple times in the face on that balcony. Why Dedede still went up there was beyond him.

Kirby sighed again. He hoped it wasn't a bad omen.

On the way, the trio greeted more Waddle Dees whom Ribbon assumed made up pretty much the entirety of King Dedede's employ with the exception of Captain Waddle Doo – no Cappies here, that was for sure. She also noticed various statues and paintings of the penguin-like monarch in increasingly ridiculous poses scattered about the place and shook her head. Still, it was obviously better than ordering monsters and the transporter that once stood in the throne room had long since been removed.

"Great King, I brought Kirby just like you ordered," Bandana Dee announced.

Dedede faced them but oddly enough had his eyes closed. Kirby frowned.

"Um, Great King?"

Ribbon suddenly screamed and Bandana Dee jumped out of his skin while Kirby immediately assumed a battle stance. An eye had opened but it was not where eyes were meant to be: it was on his stomach.

"Couldn't think of anything different, could you?" Kirby muttered, staring down the red-ringed, bulbous eye.

 **—There was no need—** the voice that wasn't Dedede's answered, a voice that Kirby recognised. **—Our only concern is that we take you. The rest—** The eye gazed upon Ribbon and Bandana Dee briefly **—are merely collateral.—**

Without warning, the possessed Dedede launched numerous dark energy spheres from the giant eye barrelling straight towards Ribbon and Bandana Dee. Kirby, however, leapt in the way just in time and blocked the hard-hitting attacks, grimacing but holding his ground as the dark power smacked into him, absorbing but a little of its force.

 **—Not going to inhale it, little Star Warrior?—**

Kirby hesitated briefly. It was almost pure energy, something he could no doubt easily inhale and spit back up again as a star. It would take literal seconds and he could spit the stars out with more force than given to him. But he didn't want to risk it. Inhaling something that Dark Matter itself had produced… didn't seem like a good idea.

Bandana Dee ran inside.

"You should go too," Kirby muttered to Ribbon without taking his eyes off the possessed Dedede. He wondered if he could simply knock Dedede out another way even if he currently didn't have an ability on him.

Ribbon fluttered backwards near to the door but she couldn't quite bring herself to leave Kirby on his own with this foul manifestation. She wished later on that she had done so though when the sickening eyeball briefly morphed into a stomach-wide set of sharp, chomping teeth that Kirby was forced to dodge numerous times. A dark aura similar to that of the previously-possessed Bandana Dee and Adeleine emanated from the king and flared several times during the heat of the battle.

"Let him go!" Kirby snapped at Dark Matter. "He's been used more than enough!" He narrowly avoided a stronger orb from the now-floating King Dedede that blasted directly into a wall and sent stones tumbling below.

 **—Pointless words—** Dark Matter sneered. **—And this king is but a fool who has mistreated you before. Why care?—**

"Because I don't want to see anyone else getting hurt!" And with that, Kirby darted forwards and leapt on top of Dedede with the apparent intent of trying to shake Dedede to his senses. However, the malicious eye once more transformed into menacing jaws and violently chomped Kirby's foot.

Kirby yelled and struggled against Dark Matter whose dark aura flared even more strongly. To the young Star Warrior's horror, the manifestation occupying Dedede's body began to float further upwards with teeth still firmly biting Kirby, the latter hanging upside down and attempting to wrench himself free. Pain shot through the young Star Warrior and he felt something warm and wet trickle from his new wound.

Ribbon flew upwards and straight into the possessed Dedede who gasped with surprise (though his eyes remained tightly closed) and promptly dropped Kirby. The young Star Warrior ordinarily would have ballooned himself up to stop falling so fast but Ribbon then rushed to catch him – he was surprisingly light – and set him back on the flagged balcony whilst forced to dodge more energy orbs on the way. The terrible eye fixed its gaze upon them both.

"Here, Kirby!"

Bandana Dee hurried onto the scene, now carrying a blazing torch that Kirby instantly inhaled without thinking. Just as the possessed Dedede was about to attack him again, Kirby spun round and breathed a wave of fire, now wearing a crown of flames upon his head.

Ribbon marvelled at this transformation. Just like that, Kirby now turned the tables on his foe, forcing it back with a constant stream of crimson flames. Its keen – mingled with Dedede's pained cry – was shrill and it keened once more when Kirby charged forwards, becoming a bright fireball in the process.

"Try not to hurt Great King too much, please?" Bandana Dee called out rather belatedly. "Maybe I should have tried finding anything other than fire…"

The Dark Matter possessing Dedede swooped down from above, attempting to crush the young Star Warrior with the king's mighty weight but Kirby sidestepped the blow and breathed more fire at close range.

Just as the king's robe started to singe, the dark aura erupted and the black orb suddenly left Dedede's body. The ocular being, burnt in several spots, took to the air and hastily fled in the direction of Whispy Woods. A Crystal Shard rolled out of Dedede's pockets which Ribbon quickly collected.

"WARP STAR!" Kirby yelled.

The golden star that Ribbon had rode before almost immediately came into view, trailing little sparkles along the way.

"I need to go after Dark Matter," Kirby explained, hopping onto his Warp Star. He couldn't leave it be now it had clearly exposed itself. He tried ignoring the heated throbbing in his foot. "Dedede will need telling what's happened. Ribbon, are you—? Guess you're coming with me," he finished as the fairy joined him.

"I'm seeing this through," she told him. "I have to. You might need help anyway."

Behind them, Bandana Dee coughed. "Um, I guess Great King was already possessed when he gave me the message. Sorry, I really should have noticed…"

"Don't worry. At least it's gone from him," Kirby said. "I'll come back later."

Giving a hasty farewell, Kirby and Ribbon soared into the skies high above the castle and leaving Cappy Town far behind, hunting for the dark enemy when any sensible person would have stayed far away. All they heard was the wind whip around against the Warp Star and their own hearts beating faster.

"There!" Ribbon cried out.

Dark Matter was floating in a stationary fashion with its red-rimmed eye glaring at them both. Kirby urged his Warp Star forwards, giving chase to his eldritch foe, zooming through the puffy clouds and towards the woods. Strange, he thought; it was certainly injured yet it should have managed to travel much further than this. It almost seemed as if it had been waiting for him…

 _Three_ Dark Matter materialised out of nowhere and surrounded Kirby and Ribbon.

Ribbon clung onto the young Star Warrior more tightly. "Kirby…"

The pink puffball cursed under his breath – he should have saw this coming. "Don't worry," he muttered. "I've got this."

 **—Our master will have you—** all three intoned at once, sending chills down Kirby and Ribbon's spines. **—At all costs.—**

Kirby rode his Warp Star directly upwards before the dark pulses shot from the Dark Matter struck him. He breathed heavily. All those who engaged in aerial combat in any form in the Galaxy Soldier Army had it constantly drummed into them that there were three dimensions and multiple directions they could fly in, not just forwards and backwards. Since so many forgot that they could indeed fly up and down as well, the aerial forces in the GSA often had the advantage over their foes by using the airspace to its full potential. The problem was though that when under assault, it was so easy to forget this and immediately panic in the mentality of trying to escape as quick as possible and consequently leaving themselves open to attack from behind.

Together, the Dark Matter trio were much stronger. They flitted about at a much superior speed, bidding to cut Kirby off before assaulting him once more. Kirby retaliated with a stream of blazing fire whenever he could and when he struck, their dark flesh sizzled and smoked. Yet it soon proved too difficult to target all three at once. If Kirby tried to blast one with fire, the other two would seize the chance to attack his unprotected sides. Ribbon was covering his back but they would have no compunction in attacking her. He couldn't allow that.

A light blue bubble suddenly surrounded Kirby's Warp Star.

"Huh?" Kirby said. He could still see through the bubble perfectly clearly; just as well as the Dark Matter trio continued their violent attacks, forcing Kirby to focus on dodging more often than he could strike back.

"A shield," Ribbon quickly explained. The Crystal Shard she held shimmered brightly. "You can still attack them from your side of the shield. I—"

Her words were cut short by the Dark Matter trio shooting their dark beams directly at the pair. The shield absorbed a good deal of energy but as it did so, Kirby and Ribbon felt the Warp Star violently shake. The pink puffball grimaced, trying to ignore the fresh jolt of pain through his system and desperately tried to focus his attacks on a single Dark Matter. If he could at least take out one, chances were good that he could take out the others as well. He had already weakened one of his enemies with the earlier battle and he could see where parts of its body appeared half-melted by his Fire Ability. He narrowed his eyes and drawing further power from inside himself, quite literally turned up the heat of his flames from red to an orange bordering on white. Had he not needed to devote half his concentration to flying the Warp Star, it would have been possible to make the fire even hotter.

Black orbs shot through the searing air to meet the flames head on pushing them back into the thin shield.

Kirby yelped and immediately cut off his fiery breath but the heat already caused the shield to crack in too many places. The Dark Matter trio were not backing down despite being injured; if anything, they grew ever more determined and violent. He tried taking a deep breath to conjure up more flames but instead found himself gasping and choking. His skin felt blazing hot to the touch; he had never pushed the Fire Ability this much before and certainly not in his current condition.

"Come on!" Ribbon urged the Crystal Shard. Each blow from their foul enemies weakened the shield further. _Why can't I make this stronger? This is no use. Do something! I need to do something!_ Even as she tried to make the Crystal Shard do something – a stronger shield or at least a repaired shield – their only defence dissolved before their eyes and the blue pieces faded into nothingness. The Dark Matter trio seized their chance immediately.

Kirby yelled in pain as he struck a violent blow at his side. Not only that but his Warp Star absorbed some of the force too. The Warp Star wobbled precariously until Kirby steadied it. He tried to take a good look at his surroundings – he was above Whispy Woods – and he knew it would be best if he could take cover under the trees and force them to fight at ground level. He suddenly realised however that their attackers were forcing them further upwards into the sky and keeping them out in the open.

"Hold on tight!" Kirby warned as he abruptly drew the Warp Star up and flew with even greater speed than usual intending to arc above the Dark Matter, who would presumably follow from behind, before zooming straight down into the heart of Whispy Woods.

The Dark Matter rushed to meet him and blasted one, two, three powerful energy assaults which, as Kirby pulled up to defend himself, battered relentlessly against his Warp Star with brutal force. As Kirby was paralysed with indecision, one of the Dark Matter foes took advantage of the pink puffball's momentary stillness and thus a final sphere of dark energy crossed the atmosphere, striking Kirby and his Warp Star with a brutal blow.

The Warp Star suddenly shattered.

Kirby plummeted towards the trees. Ribbon, who was shielded from the worst of the attack, was merely dazed, and managed to keep aloft with her wings (she did not notice the faint blue glow nor the light bubble that had popped into existence). She saw the Dark Matter speed after the young Star Warrior, completely ignoring her. The fairy felt selfishly glad at first that they had no interest in her and fluttered there for a minute or so more out of shock than anything. She stared down at the trees below but did not see anything emerge. Once she regained her composure, she too was racing down into Whispy Woods desperately wondering where Kirby could be. The attack might have knocked him unconscious and if that hadn't then the landing surely would.

 _Kirby, where are you?_ She obviously could not risk calling out for him. She fluttered carefully around the trees and under long branches in this environment unknown to her. She saw a couple of pieces of the Warp Star along the way, its light gone out, its glory destroyed just like the Great Crystal. She bit her lip; maybe the Warp Star could be easily fixed; it certainly hadn't broken into so many pieces or scattered so far.

Several minutes passed. The surrounding area was much too quiet. The fairy didn't know how far she had travelled. Ribbon felt her panic rising. Had the Dark Matter already found Kirby? Was he too injured to defend himself? She found herself flying very close to the ground as if it would offer her substantial protection. She couldn't imagine Kirby being taken somehow. He must have been nearby.

It was at that moment that Ribbon encountered a pile of apples.

Baffled, the fairy flew even more cautiously than before; every noise she made seemed far too loud right now. It was then she heard sounds of more fighting. Up ahead was a great tree from which juicy apples hung and branches spread out wide, but much more importantly, Ribbon realised with a cold shiver, were the Dark Matter trio and fighting the three on his own was Kirby.

The pink puffball had lost his Fire ability which was too dangerous to use in this forest environment anyway. Instead, he wore a crown of green leaves and ferociously struck them with a violent whirlwind of leaves that sharply whipped into each and every part of their forms. He occasionally defended himself by hiding within conjured foliage that at least soaked some of the damage being delivered against him. Swiftly evading his enemies despite the injuries he had received, he speared the Dark Matter trio with wicked plant-life shooting straight up from the earth. Ribbon covered her ears upon their harsh cries. Blackness dripped from them like blood into the ground. Finally they had met their limit and were in a much worse state than Kirby, eyelids drooping and forms almost shivering in and out of existence. The burnt one barely held itself together. They slowly closed in upon the pink puffball and Kirby backed away a little towards the great tree trunk, breathing heavily.

 **—** **Give up, little Star Warrior!—** one of the three sneered. Kirby's eyes were narrowed with determination and he stopped moving. He raised his arms and shouted, "NOW!"

A large, leafy tree branch crashed into the Dark Matter trio and sent all three smashing against the earth. Another branch speared the three before flinging the darkness against the ground once more. Kirby immediately unleashed a final flurry of razor-sharp leaves, an even greater tornado than before, and sent the jagged leaves flying into the dark foes, into their very eyes. They screeched and screamed and Kirby kept up the assault until at last, they could take no more and like the demonbeasts Kirby fought so frequently, they exploded. Unlike the demonbeasts however, there was blood but it would soon be washed away and the traces of mysterious darkness also left behind were soon blown away by the wind.

Kirby flopped down onto the grass and a face appeared on the lordly tree of the forest who used a vine to pass down a single, delicious apple.

"Thank you for getting rid of Dark Matter again, Kirby," the great tree spoke. "I am glad that such events as the previous occasion did not happen this time."

"Mmm, dunno what they would have done with you anyway but I'm glad too," Kirby mumbled wearily. He crunched into the apple and relished its sweet flavour. "And thanks for before as well. I guess they were already weakened and maybe this was the best they could do." Kirby glanced at the light-blue gem resting by the tree's roots; he was lucky that there hadn't been another case of possession this time. The exact scattering of the shards appeared less and less coincidental. "These things seem to be drawing them in…"

"Kirby, who is that?" the tree said sharply as Ribbon approached. She stopped, hesitating, but Kirby stood up out of politeness despite the effort it cost him and waved her over.

"This is Ribbon; she's a friend of mine," he explained. "Ribbon, this is Whispy Woods; he's the forest guardian around these parts."

"H-hello," Ribbon mumbled shyly. "Pleased to meet you. Um, Kirby, what happened? I saw you fall…"

"I could have floated but I would have been left in the open and I just happened to land near Whispy," the young Star Warrior groaned. "They found me and then tried taking over Whispy since the shard was here. For more defence I guess? But—" here he gave a small smile "—I'm tougher than I look. At least they're gone now."

Gone. The creatures that had destroyed the Great Crystal and nearly killed her in cold blood were gone. Ribbon felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude towards the pink puffball. She wanted to say something worthwhile but she could not think of the words and instead, suddenly noticing, she said, "Kirby, you're bleeding."

Kirby looked at his arm from which there was a slow trickle of blood and winced with pain he hadn't noticed until the wound had been acknowledged. Also, his foot which had been earlier bitten into throbbed angrily again and was also stained red.

"Sit down and keep your arm raised," Ribbon advised. "Is there anything in these woods I can use as a kind of bandage for now?"

"Use one of my leaves," Whispy Woods offered.

The forest guardian dropped two leaves which Ribbon presumed appropriate for the job and wrapped them around Kirby's arm and foot respectively as best she could.

"Better?" she asked.

"A bit, thanks."

"OK. Um, while you're resting, I'll go look for the pieces of your Warp Star. They should—"

"You'll only find the core," Kirby interrupted heavily. "The other pieces will have disappeared by now." He grimaced as if hurting internally and held himself close. His eyes were close to watering. "I… I've never had this happen to it before…"

Kirby gave a brief description of the core and Ribbon found it not too far away pulsing very faintly as if it would stop at any moment. She spotted another piece of the Warp Star a short distance away but before she could reach it, it vanished before her eyes. The fairy returned the core to Kirby and made sure to pick up the Crystal Shard in the process.

"Thanks," Kirby mumbled. He pressed the core against his body, feeling its weak energy.

Kirby looked so hurt and it wasn't from his wounds. "It can be fixed, can't it?" Ribbon asked fretfully.

"It can," Kirby said quietly. "It will heal itself. But it's gonna take a really long time before it fully recovers." The pink puffball noticed the fairy watching him with concern. "Sorry. It's just that the Warp Star is like a part of me. I dunno how to explain it; it just is."

"Kirby, what are you doing out here?"

Kirby and Ribbon saw Sir Dragato and a number of Galaxy Soldiers approach them with the older Star Warrior looking most displeased. Kirby smiled weakly.

"Uhh, hi Sir Dragato. I can explain everything…"


End file.
